Naples Street House

Naples Street House is a minimalist residence located in Melbourne, Australia, designed by Edition Office. This home accommodates three generations of one family: the clients, their children, and the clients’ elderly parents. The two principal bedroom suites, located in opposite corners of the house, are mirrored by the alternating roof forms, giving a sense of rising and falling as residents move around the central courtyard. Externally, the house is presented as a monolithic structure with brick cladding wrapping up the walls, over the folded roof forms, and into the central courtyard. This choice of material echoes the low-pitched roofs of the original interwar houses in the neighborhood.

Inside, the floors are polished concrete, while the walls and joinery in the social areas are clad in durable spotted gum plywood. The ceiling planes, painted soft grey, highlight the interplay of light and shadow. Bedrooms share this grey palette, allowing gentle shadows from the garden to dance across their surfaces. The interiors contrast the sharp exterior with textural richness. Walls are lined with wax-finished spotted gum, and ceilings vault to the heights defined by the pitched roof, creating generous, surprising spaces in the shared living areas. The bricks used are Carbon Neutral and promise longevity, ensuring a small carbon footprint. The hardwood plywood lining the walls is sustainably sourced from Australia.

The structural floor slab was burnished to reduce costs and material use, serving as the finished floor surface. The central garden room admits northern sunlight into the living spaces during winter, passively warming the concrete floors. In summer, it remains shaded and cool. The house is naturally ventilated with many windows and doors, allowing cross-flow ventilation through the central courtyard. Bedrooms and bathrooms for the clients and their children form an eastern wing, separated from the social spaces by an entry hallway that connects the front and rear gardens. This hallway flows into the north-facing living, kitchen, and dining areas, continuing around the central garden room to a secluded lounge that opens again to the northern sun.

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