The charm of older buildings can sometimes be hard to pin down. Is it the weathered authenticity of the materials, the refined scale, or the considered craft? Harder still is navigating how best to do justice to a project with a strong history and identity. Maytree Studios faced exactly this challenge when tasked with updating a late-1970s home by G. Eric Parups, a property deeply loved and continuously occupied by the original family who commissioned it. Seeking to gently expand the well-designed but cellular floor plan, the client, Hayley, an interior designer, was clear that any new work had to be bold and modest, while not duplicating existing space.
The resulting design deftly balances these constraints, crafting a small yet generous garden room addition that champions quality over quantity and plays on spatial contrast. Moving through the low original corridor – lined with dark masonry, timber and white plasterboard – the new pavilion springs up in a lofty gesture, directing views to the garden beyond. The siting of the addition feels natural, with views carefully staged. While the addition is primarily used as a dining room, the deliberately oversized space offers flexibility for multiple uses and seasons, with large sliding doors on one side that peel back to embrace a previously underutilised courtyard. Anchoring the back of the space, the kitchen resolves the threshold between old and new. Driven by the client and developed in collaboration with the architects, the kitchen’s dark, painterly stone and warm joinery ease the transition from the dim original interior into the bright new volume.
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Although lightweight against the original masonry, the metal-clad pavilion maintains a substantial, punchy profile in a visual language similar to the existing house. Its rich red hue was selected as a complementary tone to the brick, but bold enough to have a sharp contrast when the two are read together.
On their restrained approach, architect Rebecca Caldwell noted, “We love showing people that a project doesn’t have to be a million-plus to transform things … people can be surprised at the different scales which architects can bring value.”
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Further tweaks were minor, chiefly a new opening to the previously isolated lounge. This light touch maintains connectivity without sacrificing quiet, cellular nooks, with the client noting that “the house now better supports our daily routine and rituals.”
True to its name, Goldilocks Haus champions the art of a humble and sensitive intervention. By delivering exactly what is required, Maytree Studios has crafted a space defined by its respect for the original home, achieving an outcome that is “just right.”
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