Mount Stuart Greenhouse in Tasmania by Bence Mulcahy

Responding to the client’s desire to live ‘engulfed by the garden’, Hobart-based architects Bence Mulcahy conceived a new addition to an existing 1900 Federation Italianate home in Mount Stuart, Tasmania. Termed the ‘Greenhouse’, the residential extension captures the proximity of the site’s expansive garden and connects to the existing verandah. Formal character aligns with the original heritage home, such as the sandstone base, while the contemporary addition stands in contrast to the highly crafted heritage property.

The architects began the project by demolishing a 1986 glasshouse addition that had fallen into disrepair, replacing it with the transparent and deliberately structural greenhouse. Housing a new kitchen and living space on the ground level, the interior appears to connect effortlessly with the heritage house. The kitchen serves as a bookend to the formal route through the home and connects the upper and lower landscaped terraces. As one moves through the spaces, the architects present incremental traces of the new, culminating in the kitchen and dining area where the full modern extent is revealed. A master bedroom with ensuite and robe is suspended above.

“Hobart City council were very concerned that the new work was going to be too large and too contemporary against the existing house,” recall the architects. “After completion, we were wrapped to receive the award for heritage architecture at the recent Tasmanian Chapter of the Australian Institute of Architects Awards and the day after the Tasmanian Heritage Council rang us and said they wanted to use images of the project for their new advertising campaign.”

Double height glass facades capture the abundance and scale of the garden and allow for views of the city, yet still defer to the existing house by sitting below its soffit. Raw, crafted, natural and handmade elements make up the eclectic interior, with materials that develop a patina with age chosen deliberately. Handcrafted details blur the distinction between old and new, and provide continuity of pattern and texture through the space. Bence Mulcahy worked with local artisans and specialist trades including an industrial blacksmith, heritage plasterer, metal worker, ceramicist and materials such as tadelakt, brass and sandstone.

The new addition is double glazed for efficiency and incorporates a custom designed thermally capped system. Naturally ventilated, it features custom made steel casement windows and high level operable ventilators, serviced via the home’s existing heating system.

The existing red brick house maintains many characteristics typical of the federation Italianate style, such as asymmetry, a narrow two storey square entry tower and a timber verandah with filigree iron balustrade. The sandstone base, maintained beneath the greenhouse, serves to make a connection between the existing building and the landscape, as well as anchoring the new work.