Modernised Federation Heritage ● Renovation and Addition
Threshold House
Designed by Matt Burleigh ● Concept Design
Threshold House began with a familiar challenge found across many character suburbs: a beautiful original home at the front, paired with a rear addition that no longer served the way the family wanted to live.
Rather than compromise the heritage character or start again entirely, this character home extension in Subiaco rethinks the property as a long-term family asset. The dated rear addition is removed and replaced with a new performance-led extension designed for multigenerational living, improved comfort, and future flexibility. The original Federation home remains largely untouched, while its scale, rhythm, and detail inform a contemporary addition that respects the past without imitating it.
Materially, the design balances preservation with renewal. The original masonry home is retained and celebrated, while the new rear addition introduces contemporary construction systems chosen for durability, comfort, and improved thermal performance.
The architectural language draws selectively from the existing Federation character — proportion, depth, rhythm, and texture — then interprets those cues in a more restrained modern form. Warm, tactile finishes soften the transition between old and new, allowing the home to feel cohesive rather than divided. The result is a Subiaco home extension that respects heritage character while delivering a more functional, efficient, and enduring place for modern family life.