Year: 2023
Photography: Martin Siegner
Landscape Architect: Even Spaces
Builder: Marsh to Mansion
Country: Gadigal Land
House in Surry Hills explores a contextually responsive, colourful and experimental home. The design seeks to showcase the beauty and abilities of materials, creating a series of vaulted sculptural pavilions in an urban garden.
The original 1880s Victorian terrace, not yet lived in by our clients was in a run-down, uninhabited condition. The roughness, history and 1970s modification of the existing terrace was embraced but generally left unmodified.
The living pavilion has been designed as an outdoor room surrounded by gardens. Internal materials use sustainably made bricks, stone tiles and Australian hardwood timbers. A close collaboration with our landscape architect ensured material selections flow effortlessly from the outside to the inside.
Colour formed a big part of the design brief from our clients. The use of colour aims to understand how one may experience the home, distinguishing private spaces from public ones – defining the function or personality of a room.
Year: 2020
Photography: Clinton Weaver
Builder: Pacific Projects
Country: Gadigal Land
House in Newtown explores how a small footprint and floor area can create a high level of amenity, and how we can live more sustainably. Wanting an architecturally designed home that represented their own personality on a tight budget, the clients willingly accepted a smaller house in order to live in a space that was ‘uniquely home’.
The new addition is deliberately singular in colour and simple in form so as to not further overwhelm the surroundings. The lightweight addition sits quietly in its busy/grungy surrounds. Openings to the courtyard and rear community park were designed as finely framed apertures and the green roof provides an outlook not only for the subject dwellers but the surrounding dwellers alike, providing a nice contrast to the harder built structures.
This project is an exploration of how to dwell in smaller spaces, in dense environments connected to sunlight, greenery and the outdoors.
Year: 2023
Photography: Cameron Deynzer
Landscape Architect: TARN Studios
Builder: Evisage Construction & Design
Country: Mollymook
House in Narrawallee is a post-and-beam platform home perched on stilts, which sits lightly on the sloping land beneath. The brief was to imaginatively reinvent the beachcomber style home to accommodate extended family trips down the coast from Sydney, but without losing the home or surrounding area’s charm.
Colour was a journey throughout the process, the clients wanted to make sure their holiday home was a playful escape. This led to a material and colour study that created a series of rooms soaked in colourful paints, tiles, and stones. Kassia St Clair’s The Secret Lives of Colour was a starting point for our investigation into a playful, yet contextual, use of colour.
The project is centred around the concept of minimal intervention. There were no large structural changes to the building, instead an interiors-based conversion of spaces that weren’t working into vibrant and varied environments. New openings in the façade give every room a view to the newly planted native garden by TARN studio, afternoon sun and opportunity for cross ventilation.
Year: 2021
Photography: Max Combi
Builder: Southside Builder
Country: Paredarerme Land
‘Big Red’ prevails as an addition to the Tasmanian landscape that strives to meet the junction of considered design and affordability. Sitting softly amidst the surrounding dwellings, the resolution of the buildings form began with direct referencing of the vernacular of buildings in the immediate surroundings.
As much as acknowledging the additive benefits that this project brings to the site is important; what the building doesn’t do is equally as notable: ‘Big Red’ does not attempt to promote itself above the other homes in the area. It finds itself proud of how it sits succinctly amongst its surrounds.
The brief expressed the desire for the home to capture two important views. One toward the distant Kunanyi and the ever-changing weather patterns witnessed across the water. The other view toward Primrose Sands beach where the clients love to take their dogs for a stroll and a swim. The planning resolution of the twisted pavilions was a response to these two desired views.
At its core, the home is environmentally sustainable. The project demonstrates a pared-back, unpretentious architectural approach deliver a cost-effective outcome.
Year: 2022
Photography: Pablo Veiga
Builder: King Renovations and Building
Country: Gadigal Land
A full interior and exterior renovation of a c.1905 federation cottage and converted stables outbuilding. The extensive renovation aims to blur the line between old and new, original and reinterpreted. Respecting its federation past, the renovation provides a contemporary overlay that honours decorative ornamentation and materials familiar to the federation era.
Our clients, a couple in their 70s and 80s ‘upscaled’ from a two-bedroom apartment which suffered from poor natural light, to be closer to family in Sydney.
Interior colour, decoration and furniture selections were inspired by the extensive collection of art painted by our client over several years. The home balances a neutral foundation palette with a colourful collection of treasures and paintings. Becoming part gallery for the owners’ work and items collected over the years, there is also a clear retention of the familiar sensibility of what makes a home.
The project articulates how little demolition and structural intervention needs to be done to our 100+ year old housing stock to provide a contemporary, sustainable and comfortable place to live.
Year: 2023
Photography: Pablo Veiga
Builder: King Renovations and Building
Country: Birrabirragal Country
Apartment in Double Bay II is a playful renovation of a 1970s apartment situated on heritage-listed grounds. For clients who have owned the apartment since its conception, the renovation was conscious of the 1970s architecture that prevailed in the home - a 45-year-old, untouched developer display suite still adored by our clients.
The design makes sure the client’s way of living and fond memories of their home do not disappear whilst making way for a contemporary lifestyle. Minimal interventions to the planning of the apartment provided maximum effect. By removing a few non-structural walls that separated enclosed verandahs from their connecting rooms, we spatially opened the plan and directed views toward the beautiful heritage listed gardens.
The material selections are limited, but not unrelieved. Granite, stone, chrome, bronze, carpet, arches, curves, colour, and furniture choices were an extension of what previously existed, not a departure. We weren’t engaged to change their home, we were engaged to heighten it.
Year: 2022
Photography: Pablo Veiga
Builder: Venice Projects
Country: Gadigal Land
Apartment in Potts Point is a full interior renovation of a beautiful 1930s art deco apartment in the ‘Franconia’ building. Behind the Gothic wrought-iron gates, the gold lettering and the period lanterns of the wood-panelled Franconia apartment building in Potts Point, there's a wealth of history.
Subtle curves and timeless finishes are used throughout the apartment, inspired by the 1930s architecture of the building. Decorative tile patterns, stone details and nickel accents hark back to the heritage listed details found within Franconia.
Bespoke picture rail details wrap continuously through all rooms of the apartment concealing integrated lighting; framing new joinery insertions; and highlighting heritage beam and ceiling details.
Year: 2023
Photography: Joanne Ly
Builder: King Renovation and Building
Country: Gadigal Land
Apartment in Double Bay is the first of two apartments Architect George has completed in the Overthorpe building, both apartments are an individual reflection of the client’s way of life and personality.
This extensive renovation of the 1980s apartment seeks to reference our client’s love for colour explored in mid-century modern architecture. The blue tile colour is based on Le Corbusiers’ Polychromie Architecturale, Bleu Outremer. This is then translated into soft furnishings, joinery and light fittings.
Other materials and colours were then selected to harmonise with the strong blue feature elements, soft grey tiles and kitchen cabinets, as well as a naturally muted red stone benchtop and aged brass fittings and fixtures.
Year: In Progress
Country: Gadigal Land
House in Alexandria is a substantial alteration and addition to an existing dwelling in a heritage conservation area. The existing poorly designed lean-to structure at the rear is removed and a new two-storey addition is erected.
The new first-floor bedroom pavilions wrap around lightwells, internal gardens and a rear roof garden. Wherever you sit or rest, you are always in contact with either garden or sky. The rear facade curves around the roof garden to provide inward-facing and private spaces.
Year: Construction to commence 2024
Landscape Architect: Emily Simpson
Country: Gadigal Land
House in Darlington is conceived as a series of timber pavilions sitting within three horizontal garden planes.
The house implements industrial materials; exposed concrete, charred timber, stainless steel countertops, exposed structure, and steel doors and windows. These materials are softened by the constant connection to gardens on all sides, it could be perceived that the gardens were there well before the pavilions.