Mihaly Slocombe extends vineyard home in Australia with wooden nursery
Australian studio Mihaly Slocombe has returned to a Melbourne home it completed almost a decade ago to add a timber nursery annex patterned with circular cutouts (+ slideshow).
![Kids Pod by Mihaly Slocombe](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2015/03/Kids-Pod-by-Mihaly-Slocombe_dezeen_468_7.jpg)
Mihaly Slocombe created Kids Pod as an extension for its 2006 house situated on a vineyard on the Mornington Peninsula, a finger of land that curves around Port Phillip to the south-east of Melbourne.
![Kids Pod by Mihaly Slocombe](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2015/03/Kids-Pod-by-Mihaly-Slocombe_dezeen_468_9.jpg)
The 59-square-metre addition comprises a bedroom, playroom and bathroom for the clients' grandchildren, and is connected to the original house by a glazed corridor.
![Kids Pod by Mihaly Slocombe](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2015/03/Kids-Pod-by-Mihaly-Slocombe_dezeen_468_0.jpg)
Rather than taking the form of the existing house as a starting point, the architects drew inspiration from the boxy shape of raised planters and from the patterns found in the surrounding vineyards.
![Kids Pod by Mihaly Slocombe](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2015/03/Kids-Pod-by-Mihaly-Slocombe_dezeen_468_2.jpg)
"We wanted to create a super-sized folly that would belong first and foremost to its garden landscape," explained the architects.
![Kids Pod by Mihaly Slocombe](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2015/03/Kids-Pod-by-Mihaly-Slocombe_dezeen_468_5.jpg)
"It is a reinterpretation of how we once imagined our own childhood cubby house to be: playful, theatrical, secretive and robust," said the architects.
![Kids Pod by Mihaly Slocombe](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2015/03/Kids-Pod-by-Mihaly-Slocombe_dezeen_468_3.jpg)
Small circular cut-outs in the silvertop-ash cladding – sourced from a variety of eucalyptus trees found in southern Australia – form an abstract pattern based on the foliage of the pinot noir vines.
![Kids Pod by Mihaly Slocombe](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2015/03/Kids-Pod-by-Mihaly-Slocombe_dezeen_468_11.jpg)
These perforations run across a row of hinged wooden shutters that fold up during the day to create awnings for the windows, while dots of light shine through the openings at night.
![Kids Pod by Mihaly Slocombe](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2015/03/Kids-Pod-by-Mihaly-Slocombe_dezeen_468_4.jpg)
Inside, the space is lined in pale plywood and has polished concrete floors. A long bench runs below the windowsill in a passageway between the bedroom and playroom.
![Kids Pod by Mihaly Slocombe](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2015/03/Kids-Pod-by-Mihaly-Slocombe_dezeen_468_6.jpg)
The playroom and bedroom are separated from a corridor by a plush red curtain inspired by cinema and theatre performances, which allows the space to be used in various configurations.
![Kids Pod by Mihaly Slocombe](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2015/03/Kids-Pod-by-Mihaly-Slocombe_dezeen_468_10.jpg)
"It is playful, with more moving parts than is typical for such a small building: operable shutters, sliding walls, retractable curtains," said the team.
![Kids Pod by Mihaly Slocombe](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2015/03/Kids-Pod-by-Mihaly-Slocombe_dezeen_468_8.jpg)
"We like to think Kids Pod is what a child might design for herself – given six years of architecture school and an adult's resources," they added.
![Kids Pod by Mihaly Slocombe](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2015/03/Kids-Pod-by-Mihaly-Slocombe_dezeen_468_1.jpg)
The glazed corridor that connects the annex to the main house was envisioned as a playroom for toddlers, and later as a reading nook for teenagers.
Photography is by Emma Cross.
Project credits:
Architect: Mihaly Slocome
Quantity surveyor: Cost Planner
Structural engineer: ZS Consulting
Building surveyor: Group II Building Surveyors
Builder: Elyte Focus
Landscaper: Exclusive Landscapes
![Kids Pod by Mihaly Slocombe](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2015/03/Kids-Pod-by-Mihaly-Slocombe_dezeen1.jpg)
![Kids Pod by Mihaly Slocombe](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2015/03/Kids-Pod-by-Mihaly-Slocombe_dezeen2.jpg)