Campbell House.
Hawthorn East, 2025
Townhouse renovation
Photography: Sean Fennessy
Styling: Jess Lillico
One of a cluster of poorly lit 1980s brick townhouses, ideas for renewal at Campbell House emerged from a desire for spatial clarity, sunlight and a humble richness in materials quietly acknowledging the predominantly Victorian-era surrounds.
Recognition:
2026 Interior Design Awards ‘Residential Design’ Shortlist
2026 Houses Awards ‘Alterations & Additions under 200sqm’ shortlist
The primary approach focused on encouraging flow and access to sunlight by offsetting joinery or walls away from the heavy perimeter. The kitchen was fragmented into 3 linear, highly crafted units oriented perpendicularly to a new full height opening looking to a north facing courtyard.
On the upper floor, adjustments to the planning untangled a partially shared bathroom into 2 separate rooms while maintaining the 3 bedrooms for a growing young family of 4. A soft green paint to existing pine lining boards, and a green glazed tile to the ensuite feel to extend the light filled and leafy outlooks of the upper floor.
The clients approach us with a newly purchased 1980s townhouse that presented a strong need for spatial untangling. The interiors were dark and the circulation confusing and compartmentalised, yet the existing fabric offered potential: exposed timber structure, double brick perimeter walls, and timber lining boards that could all be retained and reinterpreted.
The kitchen became the primary focus of the public spaces, loosely defining dining and living, and offered warmth and texture from local Australian red dolomite and spotted gum timber. A heavy robustness for this kitchen joinery and all joinery throughout is balanced with finer details to quietly acknowledge a predominately Victorian-era context.
