Normanby House, Brighton

Project At A Glance

Location: Brighton, Victoria

Architect: Pleysier Perkins

Interior Designer: Pleysier Perkins + George Marks Design

Landscape Architect: Eckersley Garden Architecture

Photographer: Tom Blachford

Project Type: Heritage Architectural Extension and Renovation with Basement

Key Features: Retained Victorian frontage, three-storey rear addition, steel arched central corridor, flaoting concrete steps, swimming pool, oregon board off-form concrete ceiling, full height glazing, basement with cellar, steam room, gym, sunken terrace, concrete skylight

Completed: 2021

Project Description Normanby House extends a double-fronted Victorian villa in Brighton through a three-storey rear addition and a new basement level. The original street-facing form remains intact, with contemporary work drawn deeper into the site and expressed in deliberate contrast. External surfaces are simplified and openings are carefully controlled, allowing the house to open to garden outlook while maintaining privacy and a sense of solidity.

Inside, the existing sequence is reinforced through the retention of period elements and a more resolved circulation line. An arched central corridor holds the front rooms as quieter, enclosed spaces, while the newer areas shift to brighter, garden-facing volumes with restrained junctions and concealed services. Extensive glazing is used strategically to frame planting and draw light into the plan, with thresholds calibrated so the transition between old and new remains legible.

A stairwell and adjacent courtyard sit between heritage rooms and the addition, bringing daylight into the centre of the home and orienting movement across levels. Built by TCON in collaboration with Pleysier Perkins and George Marks Design, with landscape design by Eckersley Garden Architecture, delivery required staged basement excavation and waterproofing, as well as disciplined concrete formwork to a loggia and large glazing set-out to the rear. Basement amenity was integrated discreetly, resulting in a composed house where old and new remain in balance.