SOLD OUT Open Day Helvetia

This year’s Victorian Architecture Awards Open Day shares two residences of distinction from the 2023 Houses (Alterations and Additions) category. Helvetia and Sunday both exemplify how sustainable design can be integrated to repair existing Fitzroy typologies – a worker’s cottage and a grand double storey terrace. Both designs value practicality over ornament, which are tailored to the personal lifestyle of the residents. Materials are selected to denote, connect and resonate with the spaces to blur indoor/outdoor spaces. Greenspaces are prioritised throughout the built forms to create passive surveillance between the interior and exterior. 

Open Day Helvetia will showcase how reuse and repair can be championed over demolition. Originally a grand Victorian double storey terrace, Helvetia was separated into two dwellings which operated as a boarding house in the 1960s, and then later altered again in the mid 80s to become two apartments. A sustainable gesture was made by Austin Maynard Architects to restore and repair the existing walls, floors and the roof which negated 17.7 tons of embedded carbon – over 300,000 balloons worth of CO2.

Helvetia values the livability of the clients with features designed for functionality and flexibility that adapts to their lifestyle. It was identified that the initial constraints of the site was the lack of sunlight and circulation throughout the building along with a problematic area of the house which had recurring leaks and water damage. To tackle this, the main entry has been re-sited to the laneway where the two rooms are replaced by an atrium that opens up to the sky above, creating a filtered light well so sunlight can cascade through the full height of the building. The atrium is enclosed by two storey high steel screens to give privacy, yet provide a change in scale of height and light upon arrival. The staircase becomes a key sculptural element where shelving is designed to display items whilst drawers can be pulled out to store shoes upon arrival. The new entry provides a central circulation space whilst retaining the existing structure of the house.  

Greenspaces are designed around the building to allow filtered glimpses of nature which connect the inside to the outside through passive surveillance. Internally, dividing walls were replaced with sliding doors and windows/openings were inserted to connect every space with a glimpse of nature. The carport at the rear of the block has been transformed into an urban rooftop veggie garden – which is both practical and sculptural. It is described by the owners as a gesture to bring “life and beauty to the heart of a very dull laneway.”

Awards:
2023 Victorian Architecture Awards, Award for Residential Architecture – Houses (Alterations and Additions)

Austin Maynard Architecture
Led by practice founder Andrew Maynard and co-director Mark Austin, happiness, fun, friends, family, ethics, sustainability and reward for effort, are the pillars of Austin Maynard Architects. Widely renowned for their boundless creative energy the studio’s designs are at once well conceived, playful and edgy. 

Tickets per session:
General Admission $50
RBF Friends/Boyd Circle/Students $40

Tickets are strictly limited. Click on a session time below to book.
Please note access to Open Day Sunday requires a separate ticket. It takes 15 minutes to walk from Helvetia to Sunday. If you would like to visit both residences please do not purchase back to back sessions to allow time to transfer between sites. 
Attendees must be 16 years or over.

Ticketing Terms & Conditions.