03/09/2026
Mud Brick House, Eltham
We love mud brick homes and their beautiful connection to place, built from the earth, embodying the ethos of natural building championed by Alistair Knox.
This house began life as an unremarkable 1970s brick veneer, before receiving a Knox extension in 1973. That addition introduced two beautiful mud brick walls among other beautiful defining elements of that era: a basket-weave recycled brick floor and exposed structural timbers
But alongside these qualities were some of the less successful hallmarks of the era including low ceilings, dark rooms, long corridors and poor thermal performance, leaving the house cold in winter and hot in summer.
Despite its strong visual and emotional connection to nature, the house didn’t perform well environmentally. And its small, dark, poky rooms didn’t meet the needs of a modern family.
50 years on, our renovation and extension retains and celebrates what was great about the original: the mud brick walls, brick floor and exposed timber posts. At the same time, the house has been opened up, with raised ceilings drawing in natural light and warming winter sun, while creating view lines to the surrounding trees.
The original Oregon floor joists were carefully retained and, through the huge efforts of our builders, reappropriated as exposed rafters within the new raised ceilings, giving the old timber a new life.
Thermal performance has been dramatically enhanced with new double-glazed composite windows and new insulation throughout.
New materiality reinforces the sense of natural tranquility, with with blackbutt cabinetry and silvertop ash ceilings sitting comfortably alongside the original palette, while being clearly legible as contemporary.
The result is a home that retains and enhances the spirit of the original and the ethos of Knox’s ‘Living in the Environment,’ while bringing it forward to meet the lifestyle and thermal expectations of today.
Builder Truewood Constructions
Photo Marnie Hawson
Photo styling H A N N A H N O W L A N
Project team Mat Westphal Jennifer Payette Tim Shallue
