Big Gore | Tom Robertson Architects

Big Gore belies its outward appearance. Stepping in from the urban jungle of Fitzroy, this house’s composition reveals spaces of contrast: intimate and social, warm and cool, open to gardens and hidden from the world.
The architecture needed to achieve a lot for its modest size. This included creating multiple zones for a growing family, meeting heritage and town planning requirements, and considering five neighbouring properties.
The overall solution was to bring simplicity to the form and richness to the materials. From its basement cellar to its rooftop with unrestricted city views over the rooftops of Fitzroy, the house unfolds with multiple living zones, both functional and delightful. The ground- floor living spaces draw maximum sunlight and ventilation. Given the site is surrounded on all sides by neighbours, the planning required careful consideration of privacy.
Walking in, the front four rooms and heritage house entry are retained and restored, so the experience of coming home is of a fairly unassuming house. However, glimpses towards the dining area and in-situ concrete wall reveal a distinctly contemporary addition.
The house also delivers connectivity to a series of compact landscaped courtyards with a plunge pool. A separate master suite and guest study are also featured within the retained and restored heritage fabric, along with kids’ bedrooms with a study and rumpus areas.
While everyone has their own place in the home, the oversized kitchen was planned to bring everyone together to cook or gather around the large island bench. Here, a timber perimeter softens a marble benchtop, creating a piece of statement furniture.
The living space is treated simply with minimal joinery but robust materials, including a full- width in-situ concrete bench to support the fire and TV above. The lounge incorporates a popped ceiling and north-facing clerestory window to welcome winter sun deep into the space and frame the surrounding treetops.
An adjacent dining area links the old and new parts of the house with two landscaped courtyards, which become part of the dining space for large gatherings. Large, full-width stacking glass doors allow seamless connection with the landscape, with continuous travertine-clad floors flowing from inside to out.
The master bedroom is spacious and private, set within the restored heritage fabric, with the second room of the original house adapted to a generous walk-in robe and ensuite. The kids’ bedroom area incorporates a multipurpose bench that runs the full length of the upper level for study or craft.
Materials across the house contrast between light and heavy textural elements. In-situ concrete walls are expressed on the ground floor to give the building a sense of permanence and solidity. At the same time, the upper level is clad in black timber punctuated by a playful arrangement of windows. This timber cladding transitions into a timber batten screen around the stairs to the roof deck, providing a fine-grained background to the heritage façade.
On a practical level, Big Gore delivers on its multifaceted brief and intelligent planning. These achievements are secondary, however, to its more emotional purpose: a place with a strong identity for a family to call home.