LALOR HOUSE
2016 - 2026
‘The over-scaled steel and glass elements of the addition are veiled with an elegantly organic screen of stainless-steel blades that provides protection from the heat during warmer months, but also harkens back to the luxurious extravagance of Boom-era Melbourne.’
The historic Lalor Residence, built in 1888 for Dr Joseph P. Lalor, local physician and son of Eureka Stockade leader Peter Lalor, is a striking example of Boom-style architecture by the classically trained American architect William George Wolf. The project carefully reimagines the rear of the building as a contemporary family home while operating within strict heritage guidelines and preserving a rare and highly intact architectural fabric.
Leveraging the natural topography of the site, a substantial new basement level is discreetly embedded into the landscape. This contemporary insertion houses a strategically positioned three-car garage, an expansive laundry, powder room and private cinema, all concealed beneath a lush terrace and 15-metre swimming pool. By partially submerging this program, greater freedom was achieved above ground while maintaining the historic footprint of the former servants’ quarters.
Retracing the line of a weathered L-shaped two-storey veranda, the new addition draws abundant northern light into what was once a dim and introverted interior. A long kitchen gently bends into a dining space and living room that opens onto a north-facing courtyard. A dramatic double-height void connects this contemporary wing to the master suite above, while the original front rooms are reprogrammed into bedrooms and formal living spaces.
The home now comprises five bedrooms, four bathrooms, including the original surgery reimagined as a guest bathroom, two living areas and a study. The grand existing dwelling has been meticulously restored, with carefully inserted services that respond sensitively to the heritage fabric.
In contrast, the addition employs over-scaled steel and glass elements, veiled by an organic screen of stainless-steel blades that temper summer heat while subtly referencing the exuberant opulence of Boom-era Melbourne.
Delivered in close collaboration with the client, a builder who lived on site throughout construction with his family, the project unfolded over the course of a decade. Rooms were completed and occupied in stages, requiring careful sequencing and decanting as the family progressively transitioned through the house. As a result, the Lalor Residence reads not as a singular intervention, but as a layered series of projects that together form one cohesive and enduring whole.
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HOUSE
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COMPLETION 2026
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WURUNDJERI WOI WURRUNG | RICHMOND, VICTORIA
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STRUCTURAL ENGINEER | STRUCTPLAN
INTERIORS | JEANNIE QUINN
BUILDER | DOMICILE
HERITAGE | NIGEL LEWIS