Gooden House, Victoria home images, Melbourne residential property, Australian residence

Gooden House in Diamond Creek, Melbourne

16 February 2025

Design: Alexandra Buchanan Architecture

Location: Diamond Creek, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

Photos: Ben Hosking

Gooden House, Australia

Amongst the leafy suburb of Diamond Creek sits our renovation and extension to a circa 1980’s brick veneer dwelling, the Gooden House. The 3 bedroom existing dwelling lacked aspect, street appeal and connection to the landscape- it was crucial that our response dealt with all three of these issues simultaneously.

With a highly restrained budget, the overarching idea was to minimise the work to the existing and carefully insert a new contemporary addition beside the house, providing a new living, dining and master bedroom suite for the young family of four.

A simple skillion roof form rakes up to the south, with dramatic clerestory windows bringing soft light deep into the plan and capturing views out to the tree canopies beyond. A new deck is created between the existing house and the new addition, reconciling some internal layout issues and heightening the connection between the inside and outside.

Conscious of the original house’s appearance from street level, a new ‘green veil’ wraps the front of the house, providing privacy to the bedrooms, animating the facade and blending the building with the surrounding landscape.

Externally, the black metal cladding and exposed grey blockwork tie in with the greens and greys of the bushland context, whilst a palette of stained birch ply lining and spotted gum flooring provide warmth to the interior spaces.

What was the brief?
Within a highly restrained budget, the overarching idea was to minimise the work to the existing and carefully insert a new contemporary addition beside the house, providing a new living, dining and master bedroom suite for the young family of four.