A folding screen of battens shields a timber-clad extension to an Edwardian-style home in the Melbourne suburb of Carlton North, Australia, designed by Reddaway Architects.

The building, which used to be a school in 1942, has a narrow gabled frontage of red brick.

It had undergone numerous alterations in the intervening years, and local heritage policy required that the front be restored and the extension be built in a contrasting style.

Reddaway Architects added a stack of timber-framed spaces to the rear. They called the project Carlton House after its location.

The studio also converted an end-of-garden structure at the end of the home's garden into a garage and studio space, accessed by a laneway at the rear of the site.

A long and narrow route into the home has been reconfigured to replace a gloomy corridor with a new entrance hall.

This hall features a "secret door" that connects directly through to a new kitchen.

The new kitchen is lit by a skylight and separates the more compartmentalised bedrooms in the front of the building from the large open living and dining space within the new extension.

A small internal courtyard, surrounded by glazing, draws light into this large living space.

Organised in an L-shape, the extension overlooks a wood-decked terrace.

An overhanging roof partially shelters this patio, featuring a steel framed canopy across which plants can grow.

Above, a set-back upper stored provides three further bedroom spaces overlooking the garden.

As with the rest of the extension, the facade is clad in a rain screen of Blackbutt timber, an Austrialian hardwood that will turn grey as it ages.

The wooden deck leads on to a small veranda in front of the extension, raised on a brick base and framed by a series of thin metal columns.

"Large sliding glass doors allow the living and dining rooms to open on to the deck, which in turn leads to the garden," said Reddaway Architects.

"Contrary to current housing trends, the house has been compactly planned to retain the maximum amount of garden area and outdoor space."

Due to the strong western sun and overlooking from the adjacent properties, a folding batten screen was introduced to enable the living area to be more enclosed.

The screen can be drawn partially or fully across.

Internally, the material contrasts are continued.

Existing brick sections are painted white, and the new interiors finished with white walls and pale wood flooring.

Reddaway Architects was founded by architect Chris Reddaway in 2016.

Another recent Melbourne residential extension project was undertaken Austin Maynard Architects, who renovated and extended two heritage terraced properties while also retaining their frontages.

Photography is by Peter Bennetts.

Project credits:

Architects: Reddaway Architects
Builder: Contour Projects Group
Landscape: Amanda Oliver Gardens