Robson Rak is renovating an old villa in Melbourne, Australia, which will become the owner's permanent home after renovation. Called St Huberts, the project is a fascinating single-family house that has been renovated to balance its historical character with contemporary design and technology to ensure the longevity of the house and return to its identity.

The core of the design is to meet the client's needs for the house. This house will serve as a place for a family of six to live, it must be very habitable as well as very entertaining, then new aesthetics and design will become necessary to support the livability of this home for the next 20-30 years. Robson Rak saw spatial planning as key to achieving balance and flow, and to this end he restored one of the house's internal staircases and removed two external staircases. The entrance to this home was redesigned to create a new heart for the home.

The redesigned homes have been upgraded to different levels of age and detail, infused with enduring aesthetic identification and clarity. Soaring ceilings, spacious room proportions and consistent connections between front and rear gardens achieve a timeless resonance with the home. The details of the design and the choice of materials respect the building's rich layered history. Natural timber veneers, patterned and textured marble and stone, anhydrite and steel, will support the building to move gracefully and comfortably for the next 100 years.

The existing character of the house is largely preserved and restored, and St Huberts draws on the enduring relationship between new and old, past and present to establish a tangible balance. Robson Rak is committed to perfecting the building's period character, matching respectful and highly intentional novel design. The designers aim to create a new language that preserves and celebrates the original details, yet they are clearly new, to create interest and harmony between the old and the new. It is through the lens of livable that St Huberts takes on a new identity.