Mim Design has redesigned a grand Victorian villa in Melbourne's Brighton Bay suburb and added thoughtful modern elements to blend the lush landscape into the home experience. “The original Victorian villa and its garden are so large in proportion, so great is its potential,” recalls Charlotte McGill, interior director at Mim Design. Responsible for the building, interior design, furniture and styling of the home, Mim Design treats the project with an overall concept, creating continuity between new and old, while “seizing every opportunity to capture the view of the garden,” says Charlotte. Seen from the street, the solid concrete walls introduced the minimalist architectural language of the new extension.

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The interior of the villa has a beautiful arched corridor on either side of the bedroom, bathroom and private reading room, preserving the traditional decoration of the house. The continuation of the oak hardwood flooring combines the historic front with the steel framed glass atrium — a reversal of space that enhances the transition between new and old. The lower ceilings and dark tones of the atrium create a feeling of “compression and anticipation.” When people move into the extension, the spacious proportions of the old house correspond to the towering 3.5-meter-high ceilings, allowing “the line of sight to extend upward to the garden, evoking a bright feeling,” adds Luca Vezzosi, Mim Design's director of architecture.

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“Separating the extension from the old house allows us to preserve the integrity of the Victorian villa,” Luca says, providing breathing space between volumes, while providing a brief “atrium of light” in the residential centre. The east end is a learning space filled with dark-toned finishes, and residential verdant gardens designed in collaboration with Kate Patterson Landscape Company make it vibrant. The open-plan kitchen, living and dining areas of the extension feature stylish monochrome tones and feature carved furniture, exquisite chandeliers and carefully curated contemporary art.

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Wide, operable glass windows connect the interior to the landscape. Behind the garden is a blue oasis swimming pool and a low-key one-bedroom apartment made of concrete and wood. The villa's monochrome tones become soft due to the surrounding landscape. “Bringing new life into heritage buildings is certainly our passion,” Charlotte reflects. “We believe in respecting our building past and creating buildings for the future.” To this end, Mim Design combines the new and old volumes of the villa to celebrate and develop the experiential narrative of the home with a wealth of materials and performance forms.

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