Selected Project
The ‘RestoMod’. Rossall Street Home (1970 and 2022)
Designed in 1969 by Warren and Mahoney Architects, this this home is one of the few remaining multi-unit complexes designed in the ‘Christchurch School’ Modernist style and period. Featuring an extended floor plan, a simple open fire and a generous garden, this home was a unique response within this complex. Having received a small extension in the mid 1980’s and renovation in the mid 1990’s, the home we ready for a new lease of life. Thus the ‘RestoMod’ concept was conceived. A home is crafted to a brief that reflects a particular period in time, both aesthetically and in terms of the needs of its’ occupants. While at a biological level there is little change to us and therefore to the way we would use our home over it’s life, building technologies advance, our living habits develop, technology rapidly moves forward (as does our dependence on it), our expectations of a comfortable home evolve and perhaps most importantly, our appreciation of an architectural period matures. The idea of ‘restoration’, while attractive at some level, doesn’t allow a home to provide for a contemporary lifestyle. Equally, a ‘modernisation’ inherently destroys character. Hence a ‘RestoMod’, the sensitive reimagining of a home for a new period of time. Here, each layer of building fabric, be it distastefully applied or in original condition, formed a 50 year story of the life of the home and those who have lived in it. Through selectively revealing layers and with sensitive treatment to all surfaces, the fabric of the home exposes both original architectural qualities and cohesively incorporates modern insertions. Together with a sustainability strategy that embraced the high quality programmatic planning by the original architect and the sound building structure enabling a ‘light touch’ to the original building fabric, the RestoMod narrative created a cohesive driver binding both the the design and construction teams. For further images of this home, visit the full gallery at https://cymonallfrey.com/2023/09/07/rossall-street-3958/
- Category
- Housing - Alterations and Additions
- Location
- Canterbury
- Year
- 2022
