House in House is a project designed by Steffen Welsch Architects and is located in Fitzroy North, Victoria, Australia.

House in House is an exploration of site boundary as limiter; as house not as an insertion in the landscape, but the boundary, the site’s physical constraints, as frame to both internal and external spaces, as form and void. We pushed this idea through the spatial planning of the site, creating an array of spaces arranged along a central spine.

House in House is a new build in a streetscape with significant heritage value. Our idea was that the home be an ‘uneasy fit’ within the street, creating a dialogue, an ongoing easy tension, with its predominantly federation style neighbours. This idea drove the building form and expression. We opted for a reinterpreted gable roofline and charcoal brick façade. House in House is noticed not on first, but second glance.
Photography by Shannon McGrath.