a modern renovation in Melbourne is being completed
Northcote House is in a compact location in Melbourne, Australiadesigned by LLDS as a reprocessing of a Victorian terrace. The narrow plot runs from east to west, with a design that raises the ground level to form a roof garden, giving back outdoor space to a dense urban situation.
This elevated landscape features a brown roof that supports the local ecology while extending its lifespan home beyond his footprint. Below this, a hall-like volume brings together the kitchen, dining room and entrance into a single continuous space. The scale is reminiscent of nearby factory attics and church halls, where openness supports shared employment.
Designed as the architect’s home, the project reflects a preference for smaller gathering spaces distributed throughout the design. Each space supports a different way of working, from the compact kitchen and dining room to the double-height ‘cozy’, an intimate space surrounded by a sculpture rung. The roof terrace opens up to offer views over the surrounding rooftops to distant landscapes surrounding the city.
image © Tom Ross
a flowing staircase centers the Northcote home
At the center of Northcote House, the group in LLDS he sculpts a circular ‘comfortable’. A void above draws daylight deep into the house and allows air to move throughout its depth. Around this fluid element, the bedroom suites are located on each side. Movement flows around this cozy, with stairs wrapping around its edge and creating a gradual descent into a more enclosed, tactile space.
The absence of internal doors between the main rooms allows for continuous movement, shaped by material displacements and level changes. Dark green finishes complement wooden stairs and wall coverings, creating a consistent atmosphere.
Inside the comfortable, local kangaroo and deer hides create a heavier, earthier texture to the concrete surfaces. The east bedroom has a vaulted concrete floor, carrying loads from the ceiling while shaping the ceiling with a distinct curvature.
Northcote House recreates a Victorian terrace on a tight site in Melbourne’s city center
llds designs the facade as a living surface
Both the east and west elevations act as pergolas for climbing plants, drawing vegetation into the background of LLDS’s Northcote House. These planted surfaces extend the ecological intent of the roof garden downwards, creating a multi-layered interface between interior and street. At the front, an elevated terrace overlooks the street and adjacent car park, offering a quiet form of observation linked to the neighbourhood.
This threshold space takes cues from the Japanese engawa, or porch, where inside and outside meet through a loosely defined edge. It supports informal use while maintaining a connection to public life. At the back, a smaller courtyard introduces privacy and includes an outdoor shower, adding another dimension to how the house connects with the outdoors.
Pergola facades carry climbing plants that extend the greenery throughout the structure
Material logic and manufacturing methods
The project is guided by material selection closely related to construction and long-term performance. Components were selected for their texture, durability and ability to be handled by an owner-builder. Many elements were produced within a short radius of the site, incorporating digital fabrication methods such as CNC milling and robotic processes.
The PIR sheets were milled to form the relief concrete wall and then reused as insulation in the roof assembly. Point cloud scanning informed the construction process, aligning concrete textures along joints and guiding the construction of the freeform plywood roof. This roof, developed in collaboration with TGA Engineering, spans the main volume with an exposed surface that directly expresses its geometry.
a hall-like living space brings the kitchen, dining room and entrance into one shared volume
a circular cozy arrangement organizes the design and draws daylight deep into the house
