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A Victorian Home Renovation Inspired by the Cubomania Method

06.17.15 | By
A Victorian Home Renovation Inspired by the Cubomania Method

PHOOEY Architects took on the renovation of one half of a semi-detached Victorian house in Fitzroy North (Melbourne VIC, Australia) that overlooks Edinburgh Gardens. The Cubo House is now a new contemporary and sustainable, three-story house that used the surrealist technique of Cubomania to catalogue, re-use, and re-interpret all of the leftover building materials when the original home was demolished.

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The Cubomania technique is mostly noticed on the exterior’s external brickwork that’s laid out in opposing directions, giving it a distinct pattern. A lot of the existing features were re-used after having been salvaged during the demo phase, like the wood from the structure and flooring, windows, doors, security grills, and the staircase. The old security screens are now being used as sun and privacy shades on the windows.

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Pieces of the old slate roof also show up on the facade as it’s mixed in with the brick.

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The kitchen and dining room extend out to the outdoor patio expanding the usable square footage.

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The previous house was too dark so for the renovation, they created a central light-well that houses the stairs. They used salvaged windows to form a window wall that spans all three floors and delivers light to each.

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The old staircase was re-used to form the unique chandelier that hangs in the light-well.

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Photos by Peter Bennetts.

Caroline Williamson is Editor-in-Chief of Design Milk. She has a BFA in photography from SCAD and can usually be found searching for vintage wares, doing New York Times crossword puzzles in pen, or reworking playlists on Spotify.