London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Monday, Oct 20, 2025

An Art Deco–Inspired Extension Graces a 1930s Cottage in Melbourne

An Art Deco–Inspired Extension Graces a 1930s Cottage in Melbourne

Navigating a tricky site, Mihaly Slocombe turns a lackluster cottage into a luminous, eco-friendly family home.

Newlyweds Frank and Amy fell in love with a gorgeously detailed, Art Deco–style home from the 1930s in the coveted backstreets of Melbourne’s leafy Kew, but they knew a renovation was in the cards to turn the dark, camped cottage into a comfortable home for their future children. So, they turned to the architects at Mihaly Slocombe.



Deco House is one of six mirrored Art Deco cottages in the neighborhood. Although the historic building is not protected by a heritage overlay, Mihaly Slocombe thoughtfully preserved the front half of the original and added a sympathetic red-brick extension in the rear with space for a garage.

The original 1,120-square-foot house had three bedrooms and a bath, but its inefficient layout rendered one of the bedrooms unusable. Central elements of the redesign were an improved floor plan, greater access to light, and a extension that divided the home into three zones: the adult retreat within the original cottage, the family living areas on the ground floor of the addition, and the two kids’ bedrooms and a bath on the floor above.



The new and old parts of Deco House meet at the hidden side entry-now the main entrance-on the shared driveway. It opens to the home’s sole double-height space with the living areas in the new extension to the left and the main bedroom in the original 1930s cottage on the right.

"The layout for Deco House came to us very easily, but finding the right three-dimensional form was a huge challenge," say the architects, who nearly doubled the footprint of the home to 2,142 square feet. "We sought to simultaneously imbue the home with its Art Deco–inspired character, address passive solar design principles, resolve unusual siting requirements, and comply with difficult town planning conditions."

Siting was a challenge due to tight setbacks from a neighbor to the south, while a shared driveway to the north necessitated a careful balancing act between privacy and outlook.

Negotiating these realities and meeting maximum building envelope permissions, Mihaly Slocombe created a stepped, bullnose roof and curved forms that help ground the light-filled, two-story addition in the Art Deco era.



"As an interesting note, if we had squared off the building form, we wouldn’t have been able to comply with the setbacks," note the architects. "So the curved roofs were both contextual and tactical!"

A contemporary interpretation of the Art Deco period, the new extension inverts the material palette of the original house—a white building with red-brick detailing-with its red-brick form and white metal detailing. An arch motif and metallic highlights are also carried out throughout the interior.



The perforated white metal screens help offset the heaviness of the brickwork while filtering sunlight during the day and giving the home a lantern-like glow at night.



The entry at Deco House opens to the home’s sole double-height void. The brick detailing frames the living areas beyond. The stairs on the right lead up to the kids' bedrooms.



The architects moved the front door from behind the main bedroom to the side entry and converted the old entrance into a new walk-in wardrobe and en suite bedroom.

A sense of timelessness pervades the updated four-bed, two-and-a-half-bath Deco House. Concrete, timber, and white marble in the extension take cues from the original timber floors and decorative white plaster ceilings from the 1930s period cottage.



The curved ceiling was built from layered Austral Plywoods hoop pine plywood sourced from Queensland plantation forests. The flooring is blackbutt timber.



The living areas in the rear extension connect to the garden, which features a terrace sheltered by cross-laminated timber pergola clad in translucent fiberglass.

The architects also drew inspiration for Deco House’s strong form and beautiful brickwork from contemporary Melbourne projects such as Jackson Clements Burrows Architects’ Harold Street Residence and the MRTN Architects’ Carlton Cloister project.



"The luscious double curves of Deco House, a gesture that navigates thorny planning guidelines, connects the project to the era of its namesake and introduces some Hollywood razzle dazzle to leafy Kew," say the architects.

Sustainability was also a key design tenet. Informed by passive solar design principles, the extension mitigates unwanted solar gain in summer with perforated screens to the north and a translucent canopy to the east. The walls and roof have been fortified with high-performance insulation, and the timber-framed windows are fitted with double glazing.



Polished concrete floors harness solar energy through the use of thermal mass. Masson For Light Mort timber-top pendants hang above the kitchen island, which is topped with Carrara marble.



The architects created built-in storage to show off Frank and Amy’s extensive LEGO collection. A glimpse of the couple’s collection can be seen on the left.

The home also includes a low-energy heat pump for water, a 10,500-liter underground rainwater tank that feeds into the irrigation system, as well as a green switch at the front door that shuts off all non-essential circuits.



The new en suite bath features two-tone, gray-and-white tiles to match the two-tone paintwork in the original house and the two-tone plasterboard on the extension. Metal detailing wraps around the arched mirror above the timber vanity.



A secret door to the right of the kitchen connects to the garage.

"We’re super proud of how serene and beautiful Deco House is to inhabit, how it captures the changing quality of light across the seasons and each day, and how the natural material palette imbues each room with a sense of warmth and welcome," say the architects.



Deco House site plan



Deco House ground floor plan



Deco House first floor plan



Deco House elevations

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
China Warns UK of ‘Consequences’ After Delay to London Embassy Approval
France’s Wealthy Shift Billions to Luxembourg and Switzerland Amid Tax and Political Turmoil
"Sniper Position": Observation Post Targeting 'Air Force One' Found Before Trump’s Arrival in Florida
Shouting Match at the White House: 'Trump Cursed, Threw Maps, and Told Zelensky – "Putin Will Destroy You"'
Windows’ Own ‘Siri’ Has Arrived: You Can Now Talk to Your Computer
Thailand and Singapore Investigate Cambodian-Based Prince Group as U.S. and U.K. Sanctions Unfold
‘No Kings’ Protests Inflate Numbers — But History Shows Nations Collapse Without Strong Executive Power
Chinese Tech Giants Halt Stablecoin Launches After Beijing’s Regulatory Intervention
Manhattan Jury Holds BNP Paribas Liable for Enabling Sudanese Government Abuses
Trump Orders Immediate Release of Former Congressman George Santos After Commuting Prison Sentence
S&P Downgrades France’s Credit Rating, Citing Soaring Debt and Political Instability
Ofcom Rules BBC’s Gaza Documentary ‘Materially Misleading’ Over Narrator’s Hamas Ties
Diane Keaton’s Cause of Death Revealed as Pneumonia, Family Confirms
Former Lostprophets Frontman Ian Watkins Stabbed to Death in British Prison
"The Tsunami Is Coming, and It’s Massive": The World’s Richest Man Unveils a New AI Vision
Outsider, Heroine, Trailblazer: Diane Keaton Was Always a Little Strange — and Forever One of a Kind
Dramatic Development in the Death of 'Mango' Founder: Billionaire's Son Suspected of Murder
Two Years of Darkness: The Harrowing Testimonies of Israeli Hostages Emerging From Gaza Captivity
EU Moves to Use Frozen Russian Assets to Buy U.S. Weapons for Ukraine
Europe Emerges as the Biggest Casualty in U.S.-China Rare Earth Rivalry
HSBC Confronts Strategic Crossroads as NAB Seeks Only Retail Arm in Australia Exit
U.S. Chamber Sues Trump Over $100,000 H-1B Visa Fee
Shenzhen Expo Spotlights China’s Quantum Step in Semiconductor Self-Reliance
China Accelerates to the Forefront in Global Nuclear Fusion Race
Yachts, Private Jets, and a Picasso Painting: Exposed as 'One of the Largest Frauds in History'
Australia’s Wedgetail Spies Aid NATO Response as Russian MiGs Breach Estonian Airspace
McGowan Urges Chalmers to Cut Spending Over Tax Hike to Close $20 Billion Budget Gap
Victoria Orders Review of Transgender Prison Placement Amid Safety Concerns for Female Inmates
U.S. Treasury Mobilises New $20 Billion Debt Facility to Stabilise Argentina
French Business Leaders Decry Budget as Macron’s Pro-Enterprise Promise Undermined
Trump Claims Modi Pledged India Would End Russian Oil Imports Amid U.S. Tariff Pressure
Surging AI Startup Valuations Fuel Bubble Concerns Among Top Investors
Australian Punter Archie Wilson Tears Up During Nebraska Press Conference, Sparking Conversation on Male Vulnerability
Australia Confirms U.S. Access to Upgraded Submarine Shipyard Under AUKUS Deal
“Firepower” Promised for Ukraine as NATO Ministers Meet — But U.S. Tomahawks Remain Undecided
Brands Confront New Dilemma as Extremists Adopt Fashion Labels
The Sydney Sweeney and Jeans Storm: “The Outcome Surpassed Our Wildest Dreams”
Erika Kirk Delivers Moving Tribute at White House as Trump Awards Charlie Presidential Medal of Freedom
British Food Influencer ‘Big John’ Detained in Australia After Visa Dispute
ScamBodia: The Chinese Fraud Empire Shielded by Cambodia’s Ruling Elite
French PM Suspends Macron’s Pension Reform Until After 2027 in Bid to Stabilize Government
Orange, Bouygues and Free Make €17 Billion Bid for Drahi’s Altice France Telecom Assets
Dutch Government Seizes Chipmaker After U.S. Presses for Removal of Chinese CEO
Bessent Accuses China of Dragging Down Global Economy Amid New Trade Curbs
U.S. Revokes Visas of Foreign Nationals Who ‘Celebrated’ Charlie Kirk’s Assassination
AI and Cybersecurity at Forefront as GITEX Global 2025 Kicks Off in Dubai
DJI Loses Appeal to Remove Pentagon’s ‘Chinese Military Company’ Label
EU Deploys New Biometric Entry/Exit System: What Non-EU Travelers Must Know
Australian Prime Minister’s Private Number Exposed Through AI Contact Scraper
Ex-Microsoft Engineer Confirms Famous Windows XP Key Was Leaked Corporate License, Not a Hack
×