Harray Residence: a 1930s Wembley home transformed into a timeless greenhouse

What do you get when you mix a classic Wembley home from the ’30s with a lush greenhouse – and a touch of luxe Provence villa?

Designed by Highgate-based architects Chindarsi and completed in 2018, Harray Residence expands on a Deco-era family home with a timelessly chic extension to the rear, while gently updating the original home for a young family.

A new roofline simplifies the street-facing façade, its vertical ridges continued by narrow black metal columns and long-format brick paving. Paired with the minimalistic front fence, the front verandah and garden become a welcoming, open presence along the street.

Inside, other renovations include updating the bathroom and kitchen (plus scullery) to contemporary taste and functionality – but us? We’re rather fixated on that spectacular bank of steel-framed glazing that leads out to a lush backyard.

While its a classic format for Australian indoor-outdoor living – open-plan kitchen, living and dining that seamlessly leads out to an alfresco – the scale of the glass panels and French doors creates a sense of grandeur, in turn emphasised by the enduring style of steel-framed glazing. It’s the kind of feature that’s just as fitting here as it would be in a luxury European holiday villa, or a chic industrial conversion.

While normally a greenhouse would have plants inside, in this case the wall of windows show off the lush garden outside – with the long tendrils of grapevine climbing the alfresco providing a particularly stunning view, whether you’re appreciating from inside the house or within the alfresco itself.

To check out more projects by Chindarsi Architects, head to their website here.

Image credits: Penny Lane Creative