Alternating cubes of timber and glass cover the back of this Sydney house extension by Australian office Panovscott, offering a balance of light, shade, views and privacy.
Three by Two house was designed by Panovscott for a couple with two young children, who wanted to transform their dark semi-detached Victorian house in an inner-Sydney suburb.
“Their second child was due shortly when they approached us, so they wanted light, air, a place for the family to commune, and they wanted a great building,” architect Andrew Scott told Dezeen.
The two-storey extension gives them a new kitchen on the ground floor, which opens on to the garden. Above, a bedroom and en-suite for the parents is set back slightly from the back wall to create a six-metre-tall double-height space at the rear.
“By pulling the bedroom back, the kitchen-diner below opens up to the light at the edge of the house,” said Scott. “The void also allows the parents to be part of the life of the house when they are in the bedroom, while still giving them privacy. In a constrained fiscal and spatial environment, sometimes an exuberant gesture is crucial.”
The western red cedar and glass sections on the rear facade act like blinkers, framing views of treetops while shielding the family from being overlooked. On the ground floor, glass doors and a timber panel fold back to open the house up to the garden.
Inside, a wall of the kitchen-diner has been covered with floor-to-ceiling cabinets made from kauri pine – a sustainable locally sourced plywood. For the flooring, a structural concrete slab has been polished to expose the aggregate, and then sealed.
“This room is conceived as a ‘great room’, based on the example of a medieval castle, in which a large space accommodated multiple uses at the centre, and more specific spatially constrained opportunities at the edge,” said Scott.
The extension offers a bright contrast to the front of the long, narrow house, which is just over four metres wide and attracts scant light throughout the day.
A long corridor leads from this existing part of the house to the extension at the back. The entrance to the new space is tilted, intended to offer a glimpse of the light on approach but saving the full impact of the large space as a surprise.
An indentation where the extension meets the existing house also allows for a small courtyard, which ensures light comes deeper into the narrow space.
Photography is by Brett Boardman.
Here is some more text from Panovscott:
Three by Two House, Sydney, Australia
This project is the renovation of a house, one of two semi-detached single storey dwellings located in Sydney’s densely inhabited inner west. Broadly speaking it is about the making of a new whole by retention of one half of a structure and reconfiguration of the other.
The environ is an increasingly gentrified subdivision originating around 1880 and characterised by predominantly narrow east-west orientated housing parcels fronting a large public park.
Approach to the house remains via the formal front garden up three generous steps and on to a narrow porch below a low curved corrugated roof. Within, the front rooms have been retained with minimal intervention allowing the continued manner of dwelling.
A long hall leads past two bedrooms. The high ceilings, small windows and wonderfully lean vertical timber construction establish the character typical of a Sydney terrace. Cool in both summer and winter and dark even on the brightest of days, these spaces offer the initial experience of homecoming and become a counterpoint for the character of the rear addition.
At the end of the existing hall a small opening twists to the sky bringing gentle light though the upper level and into the centre of the long plan. The light washes down a 45-degree splayed plywood panel. Visible from the dark front rooms and immediately upon entry, it announces the differing quality of the spaces ahead. Moving towards this quiet light, the thin sliver of a brighter room beyond gradually widens with the shifting perspective. Shunted off the previous axial alignment, and past a discreet bathroom, the great communal room of the house is revealed. Light filled, this is a combined kitchen and dining space of slightly smaller area than the lean-to it replaces. Here the elegant vertical proportions and lean timber construction techniques of the front part of the house are reinterpreted.
Continuing the homecoming journey the room increases to six metres in height reaching upwards at its far end. The number and size of windows also increase gradually to this point allowing the internal space to expand horizontally as well as vertically and for the light levels to approach that of the external environment. Turning 180 degrees and up a narrow stair concealed behind a ply lined wall, the level above contains a master bedroom and en-suite, with a tiny window looking back across the roof to the park. This moment completes the journey within to the most private realm of the house.
Australian architecture office Iredale Pedersen Hook has renovated a 1930s property in Perth and added an angular rear extension that contrasts with the traditional street-facing facade (+ slideshow).
Architects Adrian Iredale and Caroline Di Costa of Iredale Pedersen Hook own the house and have been gradually conducting renovations over the past four years to adapt it to the changing needs of their young family.
Mindful of preserving the property’s historic aesthetic while updating its functionality, the architects retained the front facade and based the faceted shape of the extension on the multiple sloping surfaces of the original roof.
“Folding forms developed from the existing roof achieve a reinterpretation of the surrounding streetscape and roofscape, binding old and new [as well as] historic and contemporary,” said the architects. “A Jekyll and Hyde quality, the street appearance remains almost untouched; a silent figure, a backdrop, the rear is the extrovert, complex and challenging.”
When viewed from the adjacent street, the house appears to retain the appearance of the Queen Anne Federation-style properties typical in the city’s Vincent district, which feature details reminiscent of the Baroque style of architecture that gained popularity in England during the early eighteenth century.
A key feature of this style is a sheltered verandah next to the entrance, which was popular with the Italian and Greek immigrants who moved to the neighbourhood following the First World War. The architects reintroduced this element to the building to enhance the connection between the house, the garden and the street.
The faceted extension extends upwards and outwards from the existing sloping roof at the rear of the property, which prevents it from being seen from the street.
Folding doors on the ground floor can be pulled back to connect the dining room and kitchen with a terrace that projects into the garden.
Above the terrace, the upper storey leans forward to shield the interior from the low summer sun and to make the most of views across the surrounding rooftops.
The facade of the extension is covered with fabric panels, which allow light to permeate and display shadows from the branches of nearby trees. Some of the panels at eye level can be opened to provide views of the horizon.
A cooling system that drips water down the fabric panels to chill hot air before it reaches the interior was based on the principle of the Coolgardie Safe – a traditional refrigeration technique employed by Western Australian miners to cool food.
The angular interior of the study and living room on the upper floor is entirely clad in plywood panels. The sloping back wall replaces the tiles of the original roof and provides a surface that Iredale and Di Costa’s two-year-old daughter uses as a slide.
As well as the roofline, the architects retained features including the chimney, which has been converted into a water collector, and a 1950s sliding door with an amber glass panel at the top of the stairs.
A multipurpose pavilion constructed in the garden features a pyramidal polycarbonate roof, culminating in a transparent panel that allows daylight to reach the interior and provides views of the sky.
Here’s a project description from Iredale Pedersen Hook:
CASA31_4 Room House
Conceptual Framework
CASA31_4 Room House re-interprets the role of memory, tradition and social and cultural value in a rich spatial experience that is simultaneous familiar yet unfamiliar. Our architecture preserves and reinterprets the past. History is layered but never erased. Fragments of the past continually remind us that we are only another layer in the rich and unfolding history of this place.
All spaces contain elements of the past, often manifest as objects of intrigue, the sloping floor (the former roof), the barge scrolls on the front fence, the roof tiles creating a musical score along the boundary, the chimney as water collector and the up-cycling of former building elements as decks, gates, architraves and furniture.
A front deck engages with the street, re-introducing the role and value of the front garden as social setting and meeting place, a past tradition by the immigrant Italians and Greeks that has almost disappeared in societies obsession with privacy and security.
Over the last 3 years we have explored our 1936 Queen Anne Mount Hawthorn Federation house scraping, layering, and peeling with 4 primary spatial ideas; the room to the interior, the room to the garden, the room to the horizon, the room to the sky.
The room to the interior explores what existed, years of layering, the art of construction, knowing what to keep, what to reveal and what to remove, knowledge gained from 13 years indulging in the past. Rooms become the embodiment of a city, a microcosm of the qualities that make a great city. The room to the garden focuses attention to the exterior at ground level, it is purposely heavy and grounded engaging with the earth, the section expands to the exterior, a series of folding screens layer the engagement.
A space of deep sensory delight, an architectural palette cleanser, transitions the ground and upper level, the eyes and nose are overpowered by the burnt and waxed plywood walls and the amber light cast by Nan’s 1950’s sliding door.
The room to the horizon filters the suburban roof tops, the screen abstracts the exterior world, the interior is one folded space formed through a play on the one point perspective that intensifies the horizon. Openable screens create a direct view framing the horizon, releasing the interior volume. The space is cooled with an interpretation of the old Coolgardie safe, water is dripped down the fabric cooling the outside air. The newly restored, 1956 Iwan Iwanoff Guthrie residence cabinet finds a new home after 15 years of storage in numerous architect’s garages. The roughly painted ‘I love Linda’ remains on the chimney, a rear window frames the distant Saint Mary’s Church.
The room to the sky creates a vertical spatial experience, a halo of love poems embraces us (former wedding installation) and at night a cross of light abstracted by polycarbonate awakens but unlike St Mary’s Church our little spire opens up to the heavens.
Contribution to lives of inhabitants
After 4 years of renovating it is now time to enjoy the richness and intensity of experience that this renovation has created. Every day is a different experience, one that is tender, unexpected, personal and embedded with history. The design enables our children and us to grow and evolve in a sequence of spaces that encourage engagement with each other and the dwelling and offers new ways of understanding and exploring family relationships and an understanding of space. Our house is simultaneous a memorial, playground, place of celebration, stage set, place of community interaction and most importantly ‘home’.
Program Resolution
The design exploits all areas of the site with an inherent flexibility for not only day to day use but the long term capacity to adapt to evolving and changing requirements as the family grows and ages.
It re-engages with the street and community allowing our children to play in safe environment connected to the street and house. Spaces are specific and flexible, while offering sufficient capacity for personal interpretation and use.
This project includes both a macro and micro approach to sustainability. It also extends the meaning of sustainability beyond environmental to include contextual, social, cultural and economic concerns.
This house will be a case example for the City of Vincent demonstrating the importance of preserving the 1935 Queen Anne Federation home with the capacity to embrace contemporary expectations of living, without comprising the street context or privacy of adjoining properties. The neighbouring house completes the street sequence of ‘twins’ and twins should never be separated.
The removal of material from site is minimised, an attitude of ‘upgrading’ ensures that materials once concealed for structural purposes are now used for furniture, decks, doorframes and architraves.
The upper and lower level spaces are protected from the low, intense summer sun with timber framed fixed and operable screens, the upper level is cooled with a manually operated reticulation system that drip feeds water on to the fabric, hot moving air is rapidly chilled, this is Perth’s largest ‘Coolgardie Safe’, a 19th century low-tech refrigeration system used by the Coolgardie WA gold miners to cool edible goods. Windows are strategically located to maximise cross ventilation or for winter heat gain (north facing highlight window with a deep reveal for shading).
All interior spaces preserve elements of the past, history is layered but never erased. Low energy light fittings, recycled light fittings, low water use and storage, pv cells and solar hot water systems all form part of the sustainable equation but is the focus.
Economy is achieved through re-cycling, restoring, re-interpreting building materials and historic traditions and minimising waste. This project represents a holistic approach to design and dwelling, where memories are preserved, carbon footprint minimised and the concerns of the broader community celebrated.
Folding forms developed from the existing roof achieve a re-interpretation of the surrounding streetscape and roof-scape, binding old and new/ historic and contemporary. A Jekyll and Hyde quality, the street appearance remains almost untouched, a silent figure, a backdrop, the rear is the extrovert, complex and challenging.
A front deck engages with the street, re-introducing the value of the front garden as social setting, a past tradition by the immigrant Italians and Greeks. A mosaic tiled seat offers a place to rest for neighbours. All exterior spaces contain elements of the past, often manifest as objects of intrigue.
As architect owners we were keen to maintain an open line of discussion that enabled details to be developed and refined as the project evolved. This often involved the capacity to re-use building waste. Our structural engineer and builder eagerly entered in to this arrangement in particular the role of the builder extended beyond the traditional role.
Architects: Caroline Di Costa Architect and iredale pedersen hook architects Architectural Project Team: Caroline Di Costa, Adrian Iredale, Finn Pedersen, Martyn Hook, Brett Mitchell, Sinan Pirie, Matthew Fletcher. Structural Engineer: Terpkos Engineering Builder: Hugo Homes Completion: December 2013
This zigzagging house in Australia by Iredale Pedersen Hook is raised above the ground on stilts to minimise its impact on the native landscape and wildlife (+ slideshow).
The holiday home was designed by Australian studio Iredale Pedersen Hook for a site near the town of Nannup. Situated between a forest and a flood plain, the area provides a habitat for local fauna including emus, kangaroos and snakes.
The house was given a cranked layout to create different experiences along its length. It was also lifted off the ground to enhance views and reduce disruption to the site.
“This is a holiday house, a place of temporary inhabitation that offers a variety of experiences and relationship to the native landscape,” said the architect. “Spaces are strung in a line, an open-ended line that allows one to enter, exist and then leave and continue.”
The kinked plan optimises different views of the forest on one side and the horizon on the other. It accommodates outdoor living areas, including an enclosed balcony at the rear of the property and a pointed terrace that projects towards the flood plain.
Windows on the angled facades alternate between vertical apertures that make the most of the view towards the nearby trees and longer openings overlooking the plain.
The use of the stilts and their diagonal cross-braces references the fallen trees that are a common feature around the forest edge, while the material palette used for the exterior references its natural setting.
“Materials were carefully selected to dialogue with the context,” the architects explained. “Dark Colorbond steel, rusting steel and recycled jarrah [wood] contributes to the notion of the building as ‘shadow’.”
Long steel grate ramps lead to an entrance at one end of the house and a balcony at the other, continuing past the master bedroom and main living areas to the sheltered terrace.
The main entrance opens into a dark corridor that meanders past bedrooms, a laundry and a study, before reaching the two terraces on either side of the bright, open-plan living and dining room.
The architects said they wanted to enhance the experience of moving between interior and exterior spaces by emulating the experience of “wandering through a forest in and out of darkness and openness.”
Richly textured, dark jarrah wood used on the floor of the corridor contrasts with the bright living spaces, while carefully chosen colours and textures were introduced throughout the interior to evoke the natural surroundings.
Treated plantation pine was used for 90 per cent of the building’s framework and recycled local timber features on the outdoor decks as well as internal flooring and storage.
Photovoltaic panels on the roof supply the home’s power and a solar-powered system heats its water, which includes rainwater captured from the roof.
Here’s a project description from Iredale Pedersen Hook:
Nannup Holiday House
The Nannup Holiday house forms part of a wandering path through the landscape from Perth to Nannup. This path dialogues with the landscape of intense forest, meandering river and rolling hills, each experience is carefully choreographed to enrich the occupancy of the house. A Jeykll and Hyde experience of the landscape is carefully controlled through oscillating vertical (forest) and horizontal (horizon) openings and the contrast of grounded and floating experiences. While the exterior dialogues with the numerous fallen trees, the interior is revealed through a sequence of ‘growth rings’ coded and extruded in relation to the building program.
Program Resolution
This is a holiday house, a place of temporary inhabitation that offers a variety of experiences and relationship to the native landscape. Spaces are strung in a line, an open-ended line that allows one to enter, exist and then leave and continue. The house is part of a broader and longer experience that constitutes the experience of being on ‘holiday’, the travel to and from the site and the experience of visiting local towns and tourist attractions are then contemplated and celebrated in the context of this residence. Spaces are organised to provide a sense of seclusion and retreat, guests view the forest from a distance through vertical windows, the boys view the horizon and rolling hills through shared horizontal openings and the parents almost touch the natural landscape. These areas are collected by a dark, twisting and cranking space clad in recycled jarrah that oscillates between interior and exterior creating a sense of ambiguity and wondering through a forest in and out of darkness and openness. Outlook from this space is carefully controlled to provide detailed relief, openings also align to view through interior to exterior to interior and back to exterior.
Built form context relationship
The building hovers above the native landscape minimising disturbance, it is a shadow to the immense forest, cranking in plan and undulating in section. The plan twists in relationship to program requirements and variety of views. The section undulates in direct dialogue to the backdrop forest enriching the spatial experience with variety and complexity; spatial proportion varies between rooms capturing the verticality of the forest and the horizontality of the horizon.
It sits between the edge of the forest and the edge of the flood plain, the space between fire and flood, a fragile zone of existence. The ground level is dominated by roaming wild pigs (the size of humans), tiger snakes, dugites and other less threatening native fauna including emus and kangaroos. The elevated house with access via the steel grate ramps creates a safe retreat to observe nature.
Materials were carefully selected to dialogue with the context, dark Colorbond steel, rusting steel and recycled Jarrah contributes to the notion of the building as ‘shadow’. This concept continues internally, the main passage being dark and an extension of the exterior (recycled Jarrah) and primary living spaces being lighter and more connected to the exterior (recycled WA Blackbutt). Small fragments of intense colour capture the colours of the forest undergrowth.
Integration of Allied Disciplines
The core building team camped on site during construction; it became an obsession, highly crafted and full of pride. Our structural engineer also travelled regularly to site while visiting his own holiday farm in the vicinity. His knowledge of local conditions and contractors was highly valued. The project enjoyed a high level of respect and collaboration between all teams; this is reflected in the end result.
Sustainability
This project offers a holistic approach to environmental sustainability commencing with design and placement of access paths. The vehicle access path is placed along the site edge an area that requires annual clearing for the firebreak. This enables us to minimise the clearing of land. The materials required to build the access path were quarried from the site (gravel and clean yellow sand). These areas were immediately rehabilitated with plant species already existing on the site.
The house was sited and designed to minimise clearing of bush and removal of trees. The area under the house is then free for re-introducing local species and will be fed by the grey water recycling.
Materials were selected based on a life cycle analysis of embodied energy, Colorbond cladding provides a durable exterior core and inhabited areas include recycled Jarrah and recycled WA Blackbutt. Timber off cuts was re-used for storeroom linings.
The building structure is 90% treated plantation pine and most furniture constructed from hoop pine plantation plywood. The structure was mostly pre-fabricated to minimise building waste.
The long roof form increases the capacity to capture rainwater, this is re-used in the house. Grey Water is recycled for garden watering under the house. Water is heated from a solar hot water system with back up instantaneous gas hot water systems located close to areas of water use to minimise water waste. Water consumption is reduces with rated fixtures and fittings.
Photo Voltaic cells balanced over the year easily cover consumption requirements. Power consumption is minimised through energy efficient equipment, use of LED and Compact Fluorescent globes and feature wall mounted light fittings manufactured from plantation plywood.
Applied coatings are minimised and generally Low Voc or oil.
Architects: Iredale Pedersen Hook architects Architectural Project Team: Adrian Iredale, Finn Pedersen, Martyn Hook, Drew Penhale, Caroline Di Costa, Jason Lenard, Matthew Fletcher Structural Engineer: Terpkos Engineering Builder: Brolga Developments and Construction
Black panels of corrugated iron clad the exterior of this lakeside wooden cabin in rural Victoria, Australia, by local firm Branch Studio Architects (+ slideshow).
Branch Studio Architects originally designed the Pump House to give the clients space for storing a water pump and other equipment needed to maintain their farmland property, but the compact shed also doubles as a quiet lakeside retreat.
“The original brief was for a temporary shed-like space to house the water pump and other farm equipment as well as to provide the owners with somewhere sheltered to have a cup of tea when they came to hang out with George, their horse, on the weekends,” said architect Nicholas Russo.
“Although the project eventually developed into something slightly more extravagant, the modesty of the original ambition is still evident in the ‘no-frills’ detailing and rugged materiality of the finished building,” Russo added.
Sections of corrugated Colorbond iron clad the asymmetric roof and two side walls, which feature narrow horizontal windows.
The front and rear walls are entirely glazed, so the owners can open the interior to a deck overlooking the lake.
The main space in the building is an open-plan living room and kitchen featuring a wood-burning stove. A central bathroom divides this space from a studio and bedroom at the rear, which offers views out into the countryside.
The interior is lined with unfinished low-grade plywood and rough-sawn timber boards. “The timber was used to create a soft, warm, cocoon-like interior which is a direct contrast to the robust external shell,” Russo told Dezeen.
The cabin is entirely self-sustaining. Along with wood fired heating, it features solar panels and tanks for collecting and recycling rainwater.
Here’s a project description from architect Nicholas Russo:
Pump House
Typically an architectural outcome is the product of a lengthy design, documentation & construction process where the ‘vision’ is communicated to both client and builder predominantly through detailed drawings and a paper-trail of addendums, RFI’s & variations.
The Pump House was different. Constructed and largely conceptualised by the owner on free weekends and rainy Mondays, the compact, re-locatable structure is more a product of rigorous discussion than that of resolved drawings… that’s not to downplay the careful consideration that was applied to the details of the house, it’s just that the way this project evolved meant that things could, more often than not, be resolved through a conversation on site and detail etched into the clay with a rusty nail.
The nature in which this project was realised meant that our involvement was quite informal as we were consulted with on an ad-hoc basis during the design & construction solely in regards to architectural detailing and the overall architectural outcome. It was exciting to be involved in a project where we could focus purely on the aesthetic and architectural outcomes of a building.
Having worked on a couple of challenging projects with the owner (a carpenter) previously, we often found ourselves deliberating over ideas revolving around establishing a methodology to design & build small scale structures that would achieve both a simplicity of construction as well as a successful architectural outcome. We regularly discussed the possibility of developing an architectural alternative to the conventional ‘off the shelf’ house and we were united in our refusal to concede that architectural detailing, simplicity of construction and affordability were mutually exclusive.
The Pump House was driven by the intersection of these three prerequisites – it had to be a considered response (architectural detailing), it had to be easy to build (simplicity of construction) & it had to be cost effective (affordability) – and in many ways is an architectural prototype that tests our responses to these age old dilemmas… it’s very much like a 1:1 concept model based on ideas which evolved through our discussions and previous experiences.
The Pump House is a celebration of the ordinary. Uncompromising in it’s simplicity, there is a rigid adherence to some very modest but key ideas about doing away with the unnecessary. Agricultural materials (Colorbond iron, low-grade plywood & rough sawn timber) are put together with carefully considered old-fashioned craftsmanship (custom made on-site windows, doors & joinery) to create something much more than the sum of their parts. In plan, the compact internal spaces arranged simply around a central service core provide only the very basic requirements of uncomplicated living, an idea that is reinforced by the uncomplicated nature of the architecture.
A semi-permanent structure, the Pump House sits softly on its site adjacent to a large dam and on the threshold between the open paddocks and the bush land surrounds. Large expanses of glazing along with a North/South orientation allow the sunlight and the wide-open green spaces to penetrate into, and seemingly pass through, the internal volume giving the condensed areas a sense of spaciousness. The formal gesture of the black box external shell creates a robust metal ‘cocoon’ within the landscape that is directly contrasted by the warmth of the timber lined internal spaces. A large horizontal window along the western facade provides the only penetration of the metal cocoon while also allowing afternoon light to filter through the dense treetop canopy and into the spaces.
The original brief was for a temporary shed-like space to house the water pump and other farm equipment as well as to provide the owners with somewhere sheltered to have a cup of tea when they came to hang out with George (their horse) on the weekends …and although the project eventually developed into something slightly more extravagant, the modesty of the original ambition is still evident in the ‘no-frills’ detailing and rugged materiality of the finished building.
Chunky concrete slabs alternate with deeply recessed windows on the exterior of this Sydney house extension by Australian firm Nobbs Radford Architects (+ slideshow).
Named Glebe House, the two-storey annex was designed by Nobbs Radford Architects to provide the family residence with a new open-plan living and dining space, as well as extra bedroom and bathroom spaces.
The structure is located at the rear of the existing property, creating a new elevation facing the garden. Doors and windows are set right back from the facade, creating the illusion that walls are almost a metre thick.
“The depth of the rear facade creates an interstitial threshold, which is a space in itself to be occupied and provides a sense of enclosure,” said studio founders Alison Nobbs and Sean Radford.
Bare concrete surfaces continue into the interior, but are contrasted with warmer elements that include oak furniture and joinery, as well as pine floors.
A double-height space sits behind the facade, while a series of alcoves are created by the stepped arrangement of the walls.
“The project is primarily focused on the interconnections of cloistered spaces and selected framed openings,” said the architects.
The ground floor space is left open-plan. A breakfast counter divides the kitchen from the lounge area, while a family dining table fits into a space at the rear.
A wooden staircase with shelves slotted into the sides of its treads leads upstairs, arriving at a mezzanine study that overlooks the room below.
A new bedroom is tucked away on one side and opens out to a rooftop balcony.
Here’s a project description from Nobbs Radford Architects:
Glebe House – a family home in Sydney, Australia
The project is primarily focused on the interconnections of cloistered spaces and selected framed openings. The outer concrete elements contrast with the timber elements that further define the various internal zones and functions within the house.
The depth of the rear facade creates an interstitial threshold, which is a space in itself to be occupied and provide a sense of enclosure.
The idea is to create intermediating spaces that ground the house in relation to both its interior and exterior. Within the house the void acts as a centralising space via which other areas of the house interconnect.
The stacking of the elements of the facade are contrasted by the seeming point loading at the exterior. The interior reveals the alternate nature where the structural loads are revealed. This duality through the facade re-emphasises the nature of the threshold space itself.
Complimenting materials of near raw continuous length floorboards and a restrained palette of black aluminium, black steel, stainless steel and oak appear throughout the house and create a cohesive connection between original and new. These materials were selected, partially, so as not to compete with the ornate patterning of the original house along with their own inherent qualities.
The project’s fundamental rationale is to create a family home that recognised the various needs of the occupiers, spaces for children and adults with a flexibility for both retreat and engagement.
Concrete block walls with window-like apertures surround a courtyard at the front of this Melbourne house by local practice MRTN Architects, which also features an angular wooden roof (+slideshow).
MRTN Architects designed the family home, named Fairfield Hacienda, so that it would engage with neighbouring properties on its suburban street. The designers convinced the clients to downscale the building’s planned footprint by a third, making room for a courtyard that acts as an uncovered outdoor living room.
“The enclosed courtyard is located to the north of the house and creates a buffer between the street and the house, allowing the living spaces to open up to and access northern light and warmth,” the architects explained.
A path that meanders through a small garden leads from the street to the courtyard, which is level with the fronts of the adjacent houses.
The walls shelter the courtyard from the wind but contain holes that allow the residents to see their neighbours and people passing on the street.
A tree at the centre of this outdoor space provides some shade from the sun, while vines and other plants will eventually cover the concrete walls, giving it the appearance of a secret garden.
Concrete blocks enclosing the courtyard continue along the front of the house and also appear internally, where they are polished to a smooth finish.
The material is used for the front half of the house and was chosen for its high thermal mass, which reduces the need for artificial heating and cooling.
Glazed panels create a gap between the solid walls and the angular projecting roof, which is covered on the underside with red cedar.
The faceted ceiling appears to hover above the main living room and kitchen and dining space, where it complements an angular stone-clad breakfast bar.
A small courtyard at the centre of the home separates two wings occupied by the parents and children. Plants inside the glazed structure will gradually grow and increase the privacy of these areas.
The rear half of the property containing the bedrooms and bathrooms is constructed from a timber frame and clad in plywood panels.
Here’s a project description from MRTN Architects:
Fairfield Hacienda
On the fringe of Melbourne’s inner suburbs, this new family home sits in an established residential street of Victorian villas and Californian bungalows. From the footpath, the Fairfield Hacienda with its angled roof fits into the landscape of single level homes, effortlessly picking up the street’s original pattern of hipped and gabled roof forms.
A closer look however, reveals that this new house sits behind a sunny, walled courtyard. This room without a roof, except for a sheltering courtyard tree, is an extension of the living and dining spaces that open onto it. The enclosed courtyard is located to the north of the house and creates a buffer between the street and the house allowing the living spaces to open up to and access northern light and warmth.
The front wall of the courtyard matches the front setback of the adjacent neighbours. In holding the typical front setback of houses along the street, and setting the house to the south, a sun filled outdoor area is created that can be used as a living, dining or play area.
The courtyard space also becomes a semi-public space allowing interaction between the owners and local passerby’s; responding to the owners desire that the house engage with the established residents in the area.
The concrete block walls of the courtyard continue without interruption through the house’s main living areas. These walls remain unchanged except for the patina. Outside they are rough and weathered, but become polished and honed once inside. The design is not precious of the courtyard walls, eventually vines and creepers will take over the exterior concrete block and create a walled garden that will change by season.
The living spaces are covered with an undulating canopy of cedar, a warm blanket of timber. From the exterior the roof form relates to the neighbouring roof geometries along the street but from inside the roof dips and rises to define the dining, kitchen and living spaces below. The timber ceiling is kept clear of down lights and services, all lighting is provided by concealed perimeter uplighting, at night the roof appears to float over the masonry walls below.
Beyond the living spaces the private zones of the house are arranged as two wings, a parents wing and a children’s wing, that wrap around a small courtyard. This central planted courtyard provides light and ventilation to the centre of the house. Currently parents and young children can see each other through this void but over time planting will create greater privacy for older children.
The owners’ brief was to create a long-term family home, somewhere they could become a part of the street and its ongoing history. The Fairfield Hacienda sits comfortably within its local context while creating a contemporary light filled home that is orientated to the north and provides a variety of spaces to live in, both inside and out.
Melbourne practice Architecture Architecture has altered the orientation of a house in the Australian city so the main living areas get the best of the northern sunlight (+ slideshow).
The young couple who own the house initially intended to extend it along one boundary only, but Architecture Architecture convinced them to utilise the space at the rear of the plot by removing an existing bathroom to make room for a north-facing courtyard.
The additions surrounding the courtyard increase the interior dimensions of the Victorian house and provide a new bathroom and small study, as well as an open-plan kitchen and living area with folding windows that can be opened to connect it to the courtyard.
“Constructing along this rear boundary maximised the solar orientation, blocked the neighbouring townhouses from sight and provided a private internal courtyard that could be enjoyed from many vantage points within the house,” architect Nick James told Dezeen.
Architecture Architecture added a steeply pitched roof that bypassed planning restrictions and allowed them to introduce high ceilings and louvred clerestory windows to increase light and space inside the new rooms.
As the clients like to entertain regularly, the architects designed the living and kitchen space as a social area with benches in the windows providing seats where guests can sit facing inside or outside.
“The outdoor courtyard has the feel of a room, with bench seats on two sides and a fireplace that allows for outdoor entertaining on cooler evenings,” said James.
The fireplace was revealed during the demolition of the bathroom and the original brick was uncovered by stripping back a layer of plaster which had been concealing it.
Brick is also used to clad walls surrounding the courtyard, and the architects said they chose recycled bricks to add character and to reference the industrial history of Melbourne’s Abbotsford district.
“The exciting thing about these bricks is that every palette you receive is different, so no two walls you construct will appear the same,” explained James. “They vary slightly in colour, size and imperfections, so there’s a real character and history within each one and bringing them together creates an extremely interesting patchwork.”
White timber boards contrast with the red textured surface of the brick, with both materials recurring inside the house to enhance the connection between indoor and outdoor spaces.
A concrete slab floor used in the living areas was specified for its thermal efficiency as it absorbs and releases heat, helping to maintain consistent temperatures in summer and winter.
Here’s some more information from Architecture Architecture:
THE ‘TURNAROUND HOUSE’ TURNS TO FACE THE SUN
This project is an extension to a Victorian‐era house in Abbotsford, Melbourne. The brief called for new open‐plan living areas, a new kitchen, bathroom and study nook. Against the odds, this modest extension has turned a dark, cramped residence with little backyard to spare, into a light‐filled house with fantastic indoor and outdoor entertaining areas.
The existing house was south‐facing, casting itself into shadow, with unsightly neighbouring buildings imposing on all sides. By creating a U‐shaped extension along the property boundaries, Architecture Architecture has turned everything around. Now the house enjoys a generous private courtyard, with great northern sunlight throughout the year.
From the outside, the steep, raked roof deftly negotiates planning regulations, allowing for generous ceilings and high‐level clerestory louvres. In stark contrast with these windows, an unapologetic blank brick wall hovers over the courtyard, boldly declaring a distinction between the two sides of the living areas within. One side, more intimate, opens up to the courtyard, the other, with views to the passing clouds, admits northern sunlight in the wintertime.
Along both sides of the courtyard, a pair of long bench seats soften the threshold between indoors and out. One serves the living areas, the other serves the courtyard. At the back of each bench, bi‐fold windows draw back, allowing the house to throw itself open to the outdoors or to close‐off – adapting as required.
The material palette further assists in relaxing the otherwise clear geometries of this house. Exposed recycled brick (an echo of Abbotsford’s industrial heritage) and white timber boards (a staple of the modest residential extension), subtly breach the delineation of indoors and outdoors, weaving the two together.
The optimised solar orientation along with the use of brick walls and a dark concrete slab for thermal mass ensure that this is a high‐comfort, low‐energy house all year round, ideal for entertaining. A true turnaround.
Australian studio BLOXAS adopted elements from Japanese architecture to reorganise the spaces of this Melbourne residence around a courtyard then added a new timber-clad extension shaped like a periscope (+ slideshow).
Located in the suburb of Fitzroy North, the renovated open-plan house was designed by BLOXAS to provide a “dynamic mix of spaces” for a family of four who had previously spent many years living and working in Japan.
The building has an L-shaped plan that wraps around the long north-facing courtyard. A wooden deck runs along the edge of the lawn as an imitation of the traditional Japanese engawa – a narrow veranda – and prompted the residence to be named Engawa House.
“This design was structured around the concept of engawa,” explained architect and studio principal Anthony Clarke. “This space offers a transition between the yielding comfort of the grassed courtyard and the polished concrete floor of the interior.”
Three red brick chimneys belonging to the old structure are dotted through the house. One sits along the street-facing southern elevation, forming a visual break between the white-painted weatherboards cladding the original house and the black-stained plywood walls of the extension.
Comparing the building to a red brick factory across the street, Clarke added: “The black stained plywood exterior of the facade will age sympathetically with the warehouses surrounding it, offering a unique composition against the retained brickwork fireplace.”
Living, dining and kitchen areas occupy a large rectilinear space at the centre of the house and can be opened out to the courtyard by sliding back a series of floor-to-ceiling glass doors.
A staircase leads up from the living room to a mezzanine study, from which residents can survey activities going on beneath them.
New timber-framed windows puncture the facade and a bathroom wraps around another of the old chimneys.
Read on for a project description from Anthony Clarke of BLOXAS:
Engawa House
Melbourne’s inner-north has a distinct European feel of community living. Small houses compel people towards local parks and curbside gardens, blurring the threshold between public and private. The Engawa House in North Fitzroy, embraces this atmosphere, as the dynamic and historical patchwork of the surrounding context becomes part of each living space.
The clients, a family of four, described a space offering them a feeling of discovery, through a variety of intersecting planes, and the layering of natural light. They required a relocated central bathroom, kitchen, dining, living, additional bedroom with ensuite, as well as a mezzanine office and external entertaining area.
A full facing northern wing, mixing a combination of single and double storey forms, attaches itself to the front rooms of the existing house. The simple orientation takes advantage of the full range of views from the mezzanine, whilst being sympathetic to its elevational context. The living, dining and bedroom/en suite skirt a large and long courtyard garden, maximising sustainable performance, and offering northern light into each new program.
This design was structured around the concept of “Engawa”, referring to an exterior hallway on the side of a traditional Japanese dwelling. This space offers a transition between the yielding comfort of the grassed courtyard and the polished concrete floor of the interior. It also offers a transitional space for informal seating.
The open living and mezzanine enhance a visual and auditory connection, with a distinct lack of privacy, embracing the family’s already strong connection.
Rather than competing with the streetscape, BLOXAS utilised council restrictions to invite exploration yet maintain integrity. The striking black form signposts the street corner and its palette of styles.
The Engawa House interplays scale and height, contributing to the elevational rhythm of the red factory brickwork, single-storey weatherboard terraces and the multi-storey residential context.
Large timber windows to the southern boundary invite the engagement between neighbouring residents and the clients of the Engawa House.
Underpinning the projects conceptual idea was a very tight budget. The addition provides a smaller overall footprint than the previous plan, now maximising the site’s potential. The black stained plywood exterior of the facade will age sympathetically with the warehouses surrounding it, offering a unique composition against the retained brickwork fireplace. This facilitated a high quality interior where the client desired a more minimal and refined finish.
Architect: Black Line One X Architecture Studio Location: Fitzroy North, Melbourne, Australia Builder: Zachary Spark Constructions Project Year: 2013 Furniture: Ross Gardam, Earl Pinto
Three mature trees were rooted to the centre of this site in Western Australia, but architecture firm MORQ managed to convince the owners to build their family house around the peeling trunks and burgeoning foliage (+ slideshow).
Located south of Perth in the town of Margaret River, Karri Loop House was constructed around one large Karri tree and a pair of Marri trees – both of which are indigenous to this region of Australia – after MORQ came up with a design that prevented them needing to be chopped down.
The single-storey residence has an H-shaped plan that wraps around the trunks of the three trees and also frames a pair of irregularly shaped courtyards.
To avoid disturbing the delicate shallow roots, the architects raised the house off the ground by positioning it on hand-placed steel tripod footings, rather than digging pile foundations.
Dramatic double-height ceilings and large windows were then added to the living room and master bedroom to “celebrate the presence of the trees” by offering residents views of the leaves and branches overhead.
“These trees, their root systems and their unstable large branches presented a challenge to the build-ability of the house,” said the architects.
“We like to think of this project as a mutually beneficial development; the building is designed to retain the trees, while the trees visually contribute to the quality of the inner space,” they added.
A raised deck runs along the northern side of the house to create an outdoor seating area beneath the canopy of the Karri, while a sheltered triangular terrace at the end of the living room features a vertical window framing another view of the tree.
A rainwater harvesting system is built into the roof, which channels water through to an irrigation system feeding the tree roots.
Plywood clads the inner and outer walls of the house. On the outside, it has a roughly sawn surface coated with a layer of black paint, while interior surfaces have been sanded smooth to reveal the natural grain.
Wooden ceiling beams were left exposed in various rooms inside the building. Straw bales were also added to provide insulation, but are concealed within the walls.
The mature trees located in the middle of the site (a Karri and two Marris) played an essential part in shaping our project. The first part of the design process was spent in investigating the requirements for retaining these trees, as well as convincing the clients of their unique presence on an otherwise anonymous site. With the support of a renowned arborist, the decision was finally made to keep the trees. As a result, the house sits in between the tree-trunks and its outline defines two open courtyards of irregular shape. These embrace the trees and the surrounding landscape, around which family life occurs.
A tall window in the dining area and a periscope-like skillion in the master bedroom, celebrate the presence of the trees from within the house, framing views of both foliage and peeling trunks. These trees, their root systems and their unstable large branches presented a challenge to the build-ability of the house. We like to think of this project as a mutually beneficial development: where the building is designed to retain the trees, while the trees visually contribute to the quality of the inner space.
To protect the integrity of the shallow root-system a matrix of steel tripod footings was used: each of them had to be dug by hand, and repositioned every time a root was encountered, resulting in an irregular structural grid. These footings also raise the house off the ground and give it a somewhat temporary look.
Any part of the house footprint overlapping the root system would result in an uneven rainwater supply to the roots, which could cause a shock to the trees. Rainwater collected on the roof is therefore taken under the house, channelled into a trickling irrigation pipes and then evenly fed to the tree roots.
Lightweight construction seemed the most appropriate response to the existing trees requirements, however straw-bales were chosen as a preferred form of insulation. This decision required all perimeter walls to be prefabricated as ladder-frames and later assembled on site. It also resulted in unusually thick perimeter walls, seldom employed in timber framed buildings.
The house was mainly constructed out of timber, whose grain and texture inform both interior and exterior spaces. Wall linings use different grades of plywood: rough sawn, painted black on the outside, and sanded, clear-treated on the inside. The floor and ceilings are also in clear-treated plywood. The roof structure is resolved with Laminated Veneer Lumber beams, which are left exposed on the inside of the ceiling.
Australian office Tribe Studio has hollowed out the centre of a 1920s house in Sydney to create angular ceilings and a wide entrance to the garden (+ slideshow).
Tribe Studio created House Chapple by retaining the original 1920s frontage of the old bungalow, renovating the interior and replacing a later extension at the rear.
“The challenge of this house was to achieve sun and privacy while appreciating both aspects,” said the architects. “Our client wanted to retain the romantic elements of the house and its sense of humility in a suburb of flashy new builds.”
The architects removed a suspended ceiling in the centre of the house, creating a double-height living space with pyramid-shaped ceiling profiles. They also added skylights at the top and installed pendant lights with long cables.
“We allowed light into the centre of the plan, promoting stack-effect ventilation and reinforcing the unusual order of operation of the house,” they added.
A street-facing sunroom is positioned above the garage, with views out across Sydney Harbour. The room opens out into the main living space that includes a lounge, kitchen and dining area.
Three bedrooms, a TV room and a study are positioned along the sides of the main space.
At the rear, the wide entrance opens onto a wooden deck flanking a garden with a long rectangular swimming pool.
Polished wooden floorboards and white walls feature throughout, while the brick exterior walls have been painted white.
With fantastic harbour views and a northerly orientation to the street-front and a wonderful garden and existing pool to the rear, the challenge of this house was to achieve sun and privacy while appreciating both aspects.
The house has been in our clients family since the 1960s. An important part of our brief was finding a balance between new and old architecturally and sentimentally.
Our client wanted to retain the romantic elements of the house, and its sense of humility in a suburb of flashy new builds. She was simultaneously keen to have a new start in this house and have it feel her own.
The strategy is a modest one: retain the original 1920s bungalow frontage and replace a poor 1960s addition at the rear.
The primary move is to cave out central part of the plan as living spaces with clear views to the front (harbour) and back (garden). The central band of living space is contained on either side by cellular ribbons of bedrooms and utility.
The living space occupies the area underneath the peak of the original roof. The ceiling is removed and a series of distorted pyramid ceiling voids are created within the original geometry, allowing light into the centre of the plan, promoting stack effect ventilation and reinforcing the unusual order of operation of the house.
On the high side of the site, the master bedroom is nestled against an existing cliff-face, juxtaposing its harbour view and a close encounter with mossy sandstone and a cheeky orchid garden.
The intention is modest: a replacement addition that is fully concealed from the street and minimal facelift to the front.
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