Kuzman Architecture

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Footscray, VIC
Kuzman Architecture

A Melbourne based architecture studio crafting unique spaces for people.

04/09/2026

10. TWO ROOMS

A heritage cottage needed two things that seemed to pull in opposite directions. A room to gather. A room to withdraw.

On a narrow Footscray site, these competing needs found balance.

Two new spaces emerged as mirrored corten metal pods, set apart to frame a shared garden at their centre.

The studio is self-contained, flexible, quiet, offering solitude without disconnection.

Each demanded its own relationship to the garden, yet required fundamentally different atmospheres.

The rusted metal recalls tin sheds that once occupied the rear. But here, utilitarian language is recast with precision and care.

Inside, warm birch ply and finely crafted joinery soften the metal shell.

The living room connects back to the existing house, anchored to kitchen and dining.

Timber dowel detailing brings rhythm to the interiors

A room to withdraw.

A room to gather.

Between the two rooms, the garden becomes the heart. Held, protected, and quietly expansive.

PHOTOGRAPHER: Tess Kelly
BUILDER: Built By Jones

02/09/2026

09. Light Well House

A couple, their young daughter, and two cats (although you will only ever see one)bought this grand Victorian house with the sole purpose to renovate.

The brief was to transform the house into a home that was visually uplifting, thermally efficient, and deeply personal.

The most defining gesture is the introduction of a series of light wells carved into the existing ceiling form.

Each light well is carefully positioned to illuminate a specific zone, bringing a sense of drama, airiness and delight to everyday family life.

To address the western exposure, a series of sculptural battened pergolas wrap the exterior, filtering harsh afternoon sun.

These elements provide both environmental performance and a strong architectural identity.

The redesigned home opens more generously
to the garden, framing views and introducing moments of greenery throughout the interior.

Built-in joinery brings a more personal feel to the spaces, creating places to display collected objects, books and photographs.

The original portion of the house was largely retained an restored.

The old house and new addition are linked with distinctive forms, but familiar materals.

The owners wanted an enduring natural pallet with a touch of their favourite shade of green. Victorian Ash and Moss green Japanese glazed tiles were used on the kitchen island bench.

As the garden matures, the pergolas will evolve into living shade structures, enhancing thermal comfort while strengthening the home’s connection to nature.

Bathrooms reflect the owners’ love of light, while introducing timeless contemporary spaces designed for modern life.

The house is designed for now and the future, thoughtfully considering the needs of a growing daughter.

PHOTOGRAPHER: Tess Kelly
BUILDER: Cathedral Homes Pty Ltd

28/08/2026

08. MARINERS HOUSE

Mariners House is located in the bayside suburb of Williamstown, close to the marina and overlooking the docks. Within a strict Heritage Overlay, the new house’s street presence required a considered and sensitive response.

Rather than reproducing the past, the design draws on the language and pattern of the traditional cottage.

Timber battens reinterpret the language of the past, shaping it into a contemporary form. Its familiar cottage form is deconstructed into a contemporary skeletal entry frame.

The entry was influenced by the owners’ connection to the Japanese genkan. The layered battened façade creates a calm, private sanctuary within.

The living spaces were divided into distinct functions, punctuated by private courtyards. Reflecting the clients’ desire for simplicity, a minimal approach to materials and design creates clean lines and a sense of intentional calm.

The bedrooms are light-filled retreats, offering private spaces for the couple and their young adult children. The second storey punctuates the plan, creating opportunities to draw light deep into the home.

The bathrooms continue the Japanese influence, pairing glazed ceramic tiles with the repeated rhythm of timber batten joinery.

Every material was chosen with restraint. Nothing decorative. Just thoughtful and enduring.

A spiral stair leads to the roof deck, connecting the inhabitants with the surrounding treetops and bay breezes. The roof deck compensates for the reduced ground-level garden, while creating new opportunities for views across the surrounding landscape.

Overlooking the marina and docks, it becomes a sun-filled retreat for the family to enjoy on long summer days.

PHOTOGRAPHER: Tess Kelly
BUILDER:

26/08/2026

A century ago, this Williamstown cottage was built for a boatbuilding family. It held their lives, their work, their history. Now it holds a new family’s story.

The challenge was honoring what came before while embracing how families live now.

A circular courtyard composed with intention. Lined with circular glazing. The way light moves through feels inevitable. Linking spaces, old and new.

New spaces crafted with the precision and care of a master boatbuilder. Oringinal spaces restored. New and old joining seemelessly.

Thoughtful details support an active family life by the Bay, with an outdoor shower and concealed kayak and bike storage seamlessly woven into the design. References to the home’s boatbuilding heritage are woven through sail-inspired shade and privacy screens.

Engineered weathered timber battens give the addition a sense of permanence, as though it has always belonged, while ensuring the longevity of the materials.

The space carved out between the old cottage and new addition became the heart of the home. A gathering place. Heritage and contemporary in quiet conversation.\

The house connects them to its past while supporting their present.

PHOTOGRAPHER: Anthony Richardson & Eric Holt
BUILDER: Winter Constructions
LANDSCAPE: Straw Brothers

21/08/2026

06. Coringle House

A young family embarked on a mission to transform a delapidated Victorian in Footscray into their forever home.
We responded by respecting what’s there. Enhancing what matters. Making purposeful transitions between old and new.

Crafting new spaces that embrace family life. A home designed for busy parents, children, dogs and a connection to outdoors.
The material palette is refined and tactile, timber, stone, concrete and expansive glass. Colour is restrained, reserved for moments of boldness, such as the rich burgundy tiles.

Original features were carefully restored. With new elements drawing from the character and craftsmanship of the existing home. New amenities honour the heritage of the original home while providing the functionality of contemporary family life.

Creating a new upper floor for parents to retreat. Breathing life back into old spaces for kids to grow into.
The kind of home you celebrate daily.

Coringle House reimagined for this families lifetime.

PHOTOGRAPHER:
BUILDER: Cathedral Homes Pty Ltd

14/08/2026

04. Kiddy Kitty Court House

Ben and Hester were about to become parents. They loved their Moonee Ponds arts and crafts cottage but knew it couldn’t hold the life they were building.

They didn’t want just bigger. They wanted joyous. What emerged is a home filled with light, purpose and delight. The kitchen is the heart of the home, quietly orchestrating daily life. It maintains a constant connection to both inside and out.

Courtyards create safe places for children to explore and cats to retreat.

A quiet retreat for grown-ups.

Designed around Hester’s wish for a place to soak, slow down and restore, the ensuite becomes a daily sanctuary.

Repurposed original blue bathroom fixtures become small echoes of the home’s past, woven into it’s future.

Inspired by the Arts and Crafts spirit of the original home, the new addition is carefully detailed.

Sun and privacy awnings balance craftsmanship, light and seclusion.

While allowing the heritage cottage to remain the hero.

05/08/2026

02. Smoked Studio.

A couple with children needed creative space. Not a compromise squeezed into the margins of family life. Real studios where the work that matters could happen.

Behind their Northcote heritage terrace, they imagined a proper creative sanctuary. Smoked bricks sits humbly. Blackened timber battens blur the line between making and living. Light shifts throughout the day, transforming the space. Light voids and expansive glass catch the sun at different hours.

Sliding timber screens and expansive glazed doors allow spaces to open or close, creating flexible environments that adapt to changing uses while enabling fluid movement throughout.

The studios support different modes of making. Raw, noisy and hands-on. Quiet, clean and reflective.

Nothing unnecessary. Everything intentional.

PHOTOGRAPHER: Anthony Richardson
LANDSCAPE: Ros McCully

15/07/2026

Celebrating 10 years of Kuzman Architecture.

10 years, Ten Projects.

27/05/2025

Things to come. Brunswick

17/01/2025

A look back on two of our projects- Kiddy Kitty Court House and Peek House, featuring surfaces and tiles we chose from

We chose products that were both impactful from a design perspective - but also practical and easy to clean.
Colour, texture, personality and playfulness have been brought to both projects using Signorino coloured terrazzo slabs for bench tops, white square wall tiles using various sizes and grout colours, and large format floor tiles.

Address

Footscray, VIC
3011

Website

http://kuzman.com/

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