Plaster Fun House is a small Art Deco-inspired extension to an existing home in a largely austere Adelaide suburb.

The brief

The clients, a young couple, requested an extension to replace the small lean-to on their two-bedroom cottage. The extension was to house a functional kitchen that would give them space to entertain and open up to the backyard.

Working with a tight budget, the space needed to include a lot of elements while also being environmentally-friendly.

Design

The design was inspired by the clients’ love of Art Deco and P&O-style architecture, as well as their fondness for bold, bright colours, Italian and Czech glassware and German pottery.

The fun, colourful space intentionally resists the 1900s workers cottages and 1960s brick houses of its surrounds. It forms its own identity through the use of plaster and arches and references the large trees and greenery of the backyard. The use of terrazzo (which was requested by the clients) subtly references the 1950s and 60s Italian-owned porches of the area.

Spatially, the existing house was spliced. It already had a large dining room, which was integrated into the extension by running a kitchen island/dining table through the two spaces. The existing bathroom was also extended and a laundry room was added.

Set back from the northern boundary, the extension allows natural light to flood into the kitchen. The laundry and bathroom also use skylights to further capture light.

The extension softens into the backyard, including more greenery and light than any other part of the house.