project 585additions and alterations
brief The clients loved their original older style brick home, unfortunately they had outgrown it. The design brief was to 'open up' the 50 year old architect designed cottage. The client wanted a larger modern family dwelling, focusing on simplicity of design whilst remaining sympathetic to the sites history. The original cottage was characteristic of late 1950's architecture in northern Sydney; brick, interspersed with timber cladding, floor to ceiling windows and raked ceilings. The brief to 'open up' not only asked for rooms to be enlarged but also asked to maintain the obvious relationship with the bushland environment. The client hoped to bring the bush inside as the original house did and capture breezes, however subtle. The client wanted the original architect "to walk in the front door and feel as if he has arrived home". solution The original floor plan was essentially kept for the ground floor. The north and south brick work was retained and the brick work of the original fireplace replicated. Joining the original garage to the original house with glass created a 6x10m 'open room'. Elsewhere windows were simply pushed out from the original envelope. The addition of sliding doors allowed the spaces to open up to the bushland setting. A second storey was added to provide bedrooms and a bathroom with spectacular bush views. Throughout the design process critical attention was paid to airflow. The original roof pitch was retained as were the wide eaves. Aesthetically, the resulting home sits comfortably in its environment. The owners claim the highlight is the ease of living allowed by the simple floor plan claiming "The house just works so effortlessly, every room could not be better placed or sized. We won't be changing anything for another 50 years!". before |
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