In the Melbourne suburb of Fairfield, architecture studio Taylor Knights undertook the renovation of a 19th-century Victorian villa. From the main street, the house presents itself as a refined suburban residence: white decorated walls, a porch framing the entrance, wooden moldings, and a white picket fence that seems to crystallize time and atmosphere. Here, the designers responded sensitively to the historical character of the home, while completely reimagining its interior identity and relationship to the site. 

Developed as a single-storey layout, the new interior design aims to maximize natural light by introducing large operable glass openings in the living area, creating a seamless connection with the outdoors. This is further enhanced by skylights and a central courtyard, which together establish a poetic spatial sequence in constant dialogue with the sky and nature.
The interiors feature polished plaster ceilings, while the walls and floors are clad in light-toned hardwood, offering a soft contrast to the furnishings and the mineral quality of certain walls treated with exposed concrete. 

Finally, to bridge the Victorian home with a more contemporary atmosphere, the studio has created an outdoor room that acts as a threshold between the inside and the outside. Here, the Palladiana-finished flooring extends the craftsmanship of the interior into the garden. At the same time, a solid coffered roof and bush-hammered concrete elements bring a strong sense of robustness to the overall intervention.
In the Fairfield Courtyard House, a new atmosphere of suspension and dialogue takes shape, a conversation between different eras and ideas, told through light, materials, and lush vegetation.