A Revamped Light-Filled Residence Now Tops This Victorian-Era Violin Shop

In Australia, many of the terrace-style buildings that date back to the Victorian era enjoy heritage-status protection, meaning that renovating these structures often includes strict rules on preserving the facade and maintaining certain height restrictions. We've seen a number of stunning renovations of Australian terrace homes that not only respect local history but also manage to bring in some intriguing innovations and ideas for sustainable building. Such projects encourage us to engage in an ongoing conversation about what it means to preserve and update existing housing stock—as preservation can be a form of climate action.

In Melbourne, Australian architecture studio Tsai Design (seen here previously) revamped a dim and chilly residence that sits above a well-known violin shop in the Collingwood neighborhood. Dubbed Atop A Shop, the new design includes a number of improvements, like a light-filled stairwell, two decks, a freshly renovated kitchen, two bedrooms, a bathroom, and solar photovoltaics.

As some local observers have noted, many of these Victorian shops were intended as a typology that combines commercial with residential use, with the idea being that shop owners would live above their business. It's a great way to eliminate the daily commute, but these buildings are often underutilized, with the residences on top sitting empty for years.

The clients for this particular project have been operating their business and living upstairs for fifteen years, specializing in the sale and repair of violins. During that time, they put up with an outdated living space that was poorly insulated, with a less-than-ideal layout that had the couple going downstairs and through the workshop to use the bathroom.

The new scheme manages to inject much more natural light into the home, to create a "thriving business downstairs, sanctuary above," says architect Jack Tsai:

"Typical of these shopfront terraces, the floor plan was long, dark and narrow—just 4.5 meters [14.7 feet] across at its widest point. Bringing light to the heart of the home would be central to the new design’s success. To address the apartments shading the full length of the building to the north, we overhauled the central stairwell, introducing a translucent roof that would flood the living space with light and warmth."

To make this lightwell feel more like a plant-filled atrium, the walls now have some greenery mounted on them to create a mini-living wall. While this is only on a tiny scale that might help to purify the air here, on a larger scale living walls can apparently help to reduce heat loss. As Tsai explains, small moves like this make a big difference:

"It is rare for buildings of this type to enjoy access to the outdoors, so we added a green wall and transparent roofing to the internal stairs, making it feel more like a well-lit courtyard than a threshold between business and home."

A second set of stairs was added so that a generous outdoor roof deck for entertaining guests was made possible. The dining area here enjoys a large window that allows plenty of sunlight to come streaming in. The built-in bench makes it feel like it is an offshoot of the exterior stairway as it spills down into the interior of the home.

The formerly chilly home has now been properly insulated, and supplementary heating added with a sleek new wood stove, sitting on black flooring that continues up the stairway to the roof deck. Beside that we have a built-in entertainment center for holding the television, plus storage for other things underneath.

Adjacent to the living room there is a tranquil-looking kitchen, redone in soothing tones of green and warm wood. Storage has been integrated in the form of built-in shelving that arcs around the archway between the living room and kitchen, offering the clients lots of space to display books and violin-related items.

The lovely detailing in the kitchen includes leather pulls, floating shelves, and cork flooring—one of the greener options for floor coverings.

The main bedroom has been redesigned to incorporate a screened terrace, which gives the couple some privacy, as well as an outdoor space to enjoy their morning beverage.

Here is a view of that outdoor terrace from the outside.

There is also a second bedroom for guests, and the new bathroom means no more uncomfortable trips downstairs to the bathroom during the winter. There is a skylight here to bring in more light, and a large walk-in shower, toilet and sink to enjoy.

It's a gorgeous renovation that hints at the possibility of readapting underused properties such as this one. With the work-from-home and hybrid-work movements growing in popularity, it makes sense too to include the work-above-home contingent as well, says Tsai:

"Once lacklustre, the upstairs of this building now capitalizes on this great property. As architects, it was so satisfying to see how a heritage renewal could bring our clients joy while adding life to one of Melbourne’s busiest shopping strips."

To see more, visit Tsai Design.