Toorak Residence

Location: Toorak, VIC.

Size: 580m2.

Located within the prestigious Montalto Estate, this 1930’s heritage-listed home is positioned on a generous 900m2 lot, moments from Toorak and Hawksburn village.

The brief for this project was to create a generational family home for our clients, with expansive living spaces and strong connection to landscape.

Whilst the existing home has an elegant, English-style frontage, a series of later additions had led to a fragmented layout, with little connection to the generous gardens.

Our concept draws on the principles of a traditional English walled garden, with a new glazed pavilion-style addition housing the main kitchen, dining and living spaces. Enclosed with a hand-crafted brick wall, a private inner sanctuary forms a serene backdrop to everyday life.

Carefully considered landscaping, designed in collaboration with Jack Merlo, forms the focal point of the reorganised layout, all of which spill out onto the north facing gardens. A generous pool and brick alfresco further draws the outside in, allowing light, greenery and seasonal change to form part of the daily experience of the home.

To the upper floor, a more robust upper volume forms a private retreat for the principal suite. Its curved geometry subtly references the feature turret of the original residence, creating a respectful dialogue between new and existing.

A restrained palette of natural materials offers a quiet architectural elegance, designed to balance, not compete, with the intricate detail of the heritage home.