Description:

Berhampore Perimeter House is a 120-year exercise in preservation and adaptation, weaving the tenderness of private family life into an urban architecture rooted in Wellington’s historical and landscape context. Designed as a restoration and extension of a 1905 brick villa on a constrained inner-city corner site, the project reimagines the historic “Five Sisters” home into a nurturing family residence and pottery studio. A collaboration between architect and potter couple, the design balances private and civic life, framing connections to the streetscape, neighbourhood, and the wider Wellington Town Belt landscape.
The restored villa retains its character, while a contemporary masonry extension introduces a kitchen, courtyard, bedroom, ensuite, pottery studio, and roof deck. By building to all boundaries, the house forms a robust outer shell sheltering a sequence of increasingly light-filled spaces centred on a sheltered north-facing courtyard. A 30-metre east-west axis visually connects the site’s extents, unfolding as a string of rooms along the southern street edge. These spaces gently transition from old to new, with apertures modulating privacy, openness, and flexibility. Split levels create dynamic vantage points and intimate retreats—such as a curved bathroom vestibule or moody bathing spaces—within an efficient, flexible plan that accommodates expansive communal zones and cosy corners. For example, the long space can be shortened and closed down at each end with doors, increasing privacy within the house during nights or colder seasons
The project combines urban design, restoration, contemporary architecture and interior design, coming together through in a thoroughly liveable, calm, pared-back homely manifestation. Bridging domestic life, civic engagement, and landscape, the house demonstrates the philosophy of spatial continuity from small to large and beyond. The design also demonstrates material integrity, resourcefulness, and a holistic mindset, contributing to urban density and sustainability.