Joy Terrace, South Yarra

Project At A Glance

Location: South Yarra, Victoria

Architect: Pleysier Perkins

Interior Designer: Pleysier Perkins

Landscape Architect: Saint Remy Studio

Photographer: Capture Media

Project Type: Heritage Architectural Extension and Renovation

Key Features: Heritage terrace retention, contemporary rear extension, standing seam and mini orb cladding, double-height stair void with skylight, perforated steel staircase, wallpaper-lined joinery, expressed structural steel, rooftop garden

Completed: 2025

Project Description Joy Terrace reworks a traditional terrace house in South Yarra through a disciplined heritage renovation and a contemporary rear extension. The street-facing rooms are retained and restored, preserving their contribution to the established terrace rhythm while setting up a clear contrast with the new work beyond. From the public side the project remains composed and deferential, with the addition set back and largely concealed behind the retained frontage.

Internally, the plan is organised around a vertical sequence that draws daylight deep into the home. A double-height stair void capped by a skylight becomes the spatial anchor, with circulation treated as a legible architectural element rather than concealed. Wallpaper-lined joinery and expressed steel introduce texture and shadow, balanced by a controlled palette that allows light to register across surfaces. A perforated steel stair reads as a sculptural object, mediating movement between levels with clarity.

The extension resolves through a clear expression of structure and envelope, combining metal cladding with exposed framing and carefully aligned junctions to retained masonry. Built by TCON in collaboration with Pleysier Perkins for architecture and interiors, with landscape design by Saint Remy Studio, delivery required precise steel set-out within a constrained terrace footprint and careful coordination at roof penetrations to support a rooftop garden. The result is measured and coherent, balancing heritage restraint with contemporary precision.