Beautiful Virgin Islands

Saturday, Sep 06, 2025

A Kids’ Escape Route Puts the “Fun” in Functional at This Reimagined Melbourne Cottage

A Kids’ Escape Route Puts the “Fun” in Functional at This Reimagined Melbourne Cottage

Secret passageways and surprise design elements abound in this playful home renovation for an active family of five.

Celebrated for their clever and playful subversion of norms, Austin Maynard Architects has once again raised the bar for bold design with the Union House: a multifunctional home that reflects the dynamic personalities of owners Heidi and Craig, and their three energetic teenage boys.



"Union House is a place of memory-a home the family had lived in for years," say Austin Maynard Architects. "Heritage can be lots of fun. Demolishing a building and erasing history is far too easy." While the home saw a thorough renovation, the facade’s original Dutch gable was kept intact.

Heidi and Craig approached the Melbourne-based firm after realizing that their beloved but very narrow Brunswick home was becoming impractical for their growing family. "Rather than sell up and move elsewhere, we decided to engage the services of an architect who understood the challenges of building in the inner city, with limited space, restricted access, and proximity of neighboring residences," explain the couple, who sought a renovation and expansion that would provide a robust forever home for their family.

To make the most of the small 18-foot-wide plot, the architects created a fluid and flexible design across four floors that include the basement and the roof terrace. While the interior of the four-bedroom, three-bath home is entirely new, the existing street-facing Dutch gable was preserved in remembrance of the home’s former life-even though there were no heritage overlays or council requirements to keep the facade intact.



The rough brickwork at the front entry was also retained, however a high fence was removed and replaced with a concrete bench that provides seating to passersby.



"The cross-laminated timber was left exposed as an expression of the material," say Austin Maynard Architects. "It’s such a lovely looking material. Why cover it up, if you don’t have to?"

Despite preserving the cottage’s quaint facade, the architects didn’t hesitate to make a bold statement with the addition of a new cross-laminated timber box that adds a third level to the home. In addition to using cross-laminated timber as framing, the architects chose to keep the high-performance material exposed throughout the interior for a cohesive look.

Inside, Union House eschews traditional hallways and room layouts, instead embracing fluid and multifunctional spaces. Elements like split levels and hidden steps are meticulously planned to maximize efficiency; the arrangement of gathering spaces, study areas, and retreats are a response to the family’s needs. "Despite being narrow and stacked, the home never feels cramped as spaces are designed to merge in various and sometimes surprising configurations," say the architects. "It’s an example of people literally living on top of each other and making that part of the joy of the house."



On the ground floor, the open-plan living room, dining area, and kitchen open up to the rear garden through folding glass doors. Concrete flooring helps improve thermal mass, while a palette of timber, brick, and Equitone cabinet fronts help achieve a handsome, rugged look.



For a fun surprise, camellia pink was used inside the Equitone cabinets.



In the kitchen, the walkway to the left is raised about a foot and a half to double as seating. The Jaipur Pepper kitchen countertop by Stone Italiana was built to a height about three feet to act as seating from the raised walkway.



To the side of the front entrance is a combined office and music room.



A thoughtfully detailed sliding door separates the music room/office from the sitting room, which can be converted into a guest bedroom.



The basement is a dedicated space for the boys’ gaming activities and other passion projects. Glass floor panels above the wooden ramp let light into the space; one of the panels flips open to connect to the ground-floor living room above.



Storage is hidden inside the wooden ramp.

While the heart of the home is centered around a black steel staircase that connects all four floors, the family also wanted a fun "backup plan" to transition from the basement to the roof. The answer came in the form of a kind of escape route: It begins in the basement with a scramble up a wooden ramp through a glazed trapdoor, and ends with a clamber up a series of climbing wall holds and nets to access the roof deck above-all without interacting with a single stair. "It’s a thoroughly unconventional way to move through the home, and a wonderful way to distract active boys," note the architects.



A skylight floods the central stair with natural light. Perforated treads let daylight filter down through multiple floors.



Netting and voids also allow daylight to flood the home.



The family’s two Siamese cats have their very own private escape route to the walled-in back garden in the kitchen.



The main bedroom is oriented south toward the home’s street-facing facade, with the Dutch gable providing structure to the cross-laminated timber addition.



The cross-laminated timber continues in one of the boys’ bedrooms.



A sliding wall acts as a partition between the boys’ rooms, or can be hidden away to make for a singular shared space.



The second bedroom can be accessed through the sliding partition or a separate entrance.



The boys’ bathroom takes on a "cartoonish" appearance with blue molded fiberglass, a design choice that the clients requested after seeing Austin Maynard Architects’ work on a bright yellow bath in a previous project.



A green roof grows over the bedrooms on the roof deck.

For Heidi and Craig, Union House is functional, harmonious, and engaging. "It continues to delight our family and friends, almost as though it has its own sense of humor-it is beautiful without taking itself too seriously," say the couple. Between work, study, and leisure activities, its cross functionality continues to amaze them. Even with radical changes both aesthetic and structural, the home’s essence remains in tact. "As many have pointed out to us," they say, "this is a house that still possesses the essential character of our first Melbourne home."



Union House basement plan



Union House ground floor plan



Union House first floor plan



Union House rooftop plan



Union House south elevation



Union House north elevation



Union House section

Newsletter

Related Articles

Beautiful Virgin Islands
0:00
0:00
Close
Trump Threatens Retaliatory Tariffs After EU Imposes €2.95 Billion Fine on Google
Tesla Board Proposes Unprecedented One-Trillion-Dollar Performance Package for Elon Musk
US Justice Department Launches Criminal Mortgage-Fraud Probe into Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook
Escalating Drug Trafficking and Violence in Latin America: A Growing Crisis
US and Taiwanese Defence Officials Held Secret Talks in Alaska
Report: Secret SEAL Team 6 Mission in North Korea Ordered by Trump in 2019 Ended in Failure
Gold Could Reach Nearly $5,000 if Fed Independence Is Undermined, Goldman Sachs Warns
Uruguay, Colombia and Paraguay Secure Places at 2026 World Cup
Florida Murder Case: The Adelson Family, the Killing of Dan Markel, and the Trial of Donna Adelson
Trump Administration Advances Plans to Rebrand Pentagon as Department of War Instead of the Fake Term Department of Defense
Big Tech Executives Laud Trump at White House Dinner, Unveil Massive U.S. Investments
Tether Expands into Gold Sector with Profit-Driven Diversification
‘Looks Like a Wig’: Online Users Express Concern Over Kate Middleton
Brand-New $1 Million Yacht Sinks Just Fifteen Minutes After Maiden Launch in Turkey
Here’s What the FBI Seized in John Bolton Raid — and the Legal Risks He Faces
Florida’s Vaccine Revolution: DeSantis Declares War on Mandates
Trump’s New War – and the ‘Drug Tyrant’ Fearing Invasion: ‘1,200 Missiles Aimed at Us’
"The Situation Has Never Been This Bad": The Fall of PepsiCo
At the Parade in China: Laser Weapons, 'Eagle Strike,' and a Missile Capable of 'Striking Anywhere in the World'
The Fashion Designer Who Became an Italian Symbol: Giorgio Armani Has Died at 91
Putin Celebrates ‘Unprecedentedly High’ Ties with China as Gazprom Seals Power of Siberia-2 Deal
China Unveils New Weapons in Grand Military Parade as Xi Hosts Putin and Kim
Queen Camilla’s Teenage Courage: Fended Off Attempted Assault on London Train, New Biography Reveals
Scottish Brothers Set Record in Historic Pacific Row
Rapper Cardi B Cleared of Liability in Los Angeles Civil Assault Trial
Google Avoids Break-Up in U.S. Antitrust Case as Stocks Rise
Couple celebrates 80th wedding anniversary at assisted living facility in Lancaster
Information Warfare in the Age of AI: How Language Models Become Targets and Tools
The White House on LinkedIn Has Changed Their Profile Picture to Donald Trump
"Insulted the Prophet Muhammad": Woman Burned Alive by Angry Mob in Niger State, Nigeria
Trump Responds to Death Rumors – Announces 'Missile City'
Court of Appeal Allows Asylum Seekers to Remain at Essex Hotel Amid Local Tax Boycott Threats
Germany in Turmoil: Ukrainian Teenage Girl Pushed to Death by Illegal Iraqi Migrant
United Krack down on human rights: Graham Linehan Arrested at Heathrow Over Three X Posts, Hospitalised, Released on Bail with Posting Ban
Asian and Middle Eastern Investors Avoid US Markets
Ray Dalio Warns of US Shift to Autocracy
Eurozone Inflation Rises to 2.1% in August
Russia and China Sign New Gas Pipeline Deal
China's Robotics Industry Fuels Export Surge
Suntory Chairman Resigns After Police Probe
Gold Price Hits New All-Time Record
Von der Leyen's Plane Hit by Suspected Russian GPS Interference in an Incident Believed to Be Caused by Russia or by Pro-Peace or by Anti-Corruption European Activists
UK Fintechs Explore Buying US Banks
Greece Suspends 5% of Schools as Birth Rate Drops
Apollo to Launch $5 Billion Sports Investment Vehicle
Bolsonaro Trial Nears Close Amid US-Brazil Tension
European Banks Push for Lower Cross-Border Barriers
Poland's Offshore Wind Sector Attracts Investors
Nvidia Reveals: Two Mystery Customers Account for About 40% of Revenue
Woody Allen: "I Would Be Happy to Direct Trump Again in a Film"
×