As a speculative dual occupancy project for an emerging local developer, these two Northcote townhouses represented an opportunity for DKO to explore traditional suburban motifs and vernacular, while retaining a value proposition for the client. The project references traditional residential roof forms, and in particular the mansard roof typology, to mitigate a traditional two storey mass. This resulted in two houses that are the same but different – distinguished by nuances of form, colour, detailing and interior spatial arrangements. In plan also, these contemporary townhouses invert expectations, with bedrooms at the bottom and living on the top floor. This is partly due to the pressures of programme on a limited lot size, but also to take advantage of the generous interior spaces and vaulted ceilings, afforded by the roof form. In rethinking heritage architecture, the site layout respects the historical subdivision pattern, with the new responding creatively to adjacent built form, its setback and materials.