It can be challenging enough to build a modern home in a traditional context but remodeling a conventional house with a contemporary approach can be even more difficult though, done well, it can produce a potentially more dynamic and impressive combined construction than either a traditional or modern house design.


In this renovation-and-remodeling project, Maynard Architects began with a charming old Australian house and integrated elements of the original structure in creative ways with the addition of more space and modern materials. From the front, the house appears untouched, but the backyard reveals an amazing transformation contrasting the historic traditional architecture with a modern addition made of slatted wood, metal and glass.

Through contrast, the division of the old and new design elements in this creative home are rendered evident from every angle both inside and out, with different rhythms of solid and void, a flat new roof next to the angled existing rooflines and grassy floor surfaces that seamlessly transition from the yard into indoor/outdoor spaces.
“Walker House is a renovation to a 1873 home (whose heritage is described as a gothic revival picturesque) and a modest 2003 studio/garage by Pleysier Perkins. We rebuilt the interior of the kitchen/dining area within the original house, converted the garage into a living space and created a master bedroom suite within the upper studio space. The complex, and daunting, part of the brief was how we would connect the original home with the garage (now living space). We created a low transparent space that blurred the boundaries between what was old, what was new, what was external, what is internal.”
Specializing in these old-and-new projects, Maynard Architects is also known for its aptly named Vader House featuring a jagged black addition to an older home, Tattoo House featuring a faux foliage facade for shade and privacy, and a lofted black volume that appears to ride a wave of grass.