Art House

Approach

Our clients – an artist and anthropologist/writer – engaged us to undertake a sustainable renovation and overhaul their Federation-era workers cottage. Their goals were to make it more functional for them, their adult children, and working from home.

They provided us with an inspiring brief in the form of a poem, that framed our design response:

“Dear Architect, Builder of Cities,

Spice Merchants of Homes:

Build me a room to read and brood;

Make me a space to think in majestic solitude…

Just erect me a tin shed of modest comfort;

Where I can feel a happiness without cause

and shut out the oily businesses of the world.”

Process

The original house was dark and narrow; and didn’t provide appropriate spaces for the parents to work from home, sometimes with visiting assistants; nor the comings and goings of university-aged children.

Through careful and strategic reconfiguration of the existing spaces without altering the original footprint, we created places suited for gathering or retreat, privacy or outlook.

By cutting out the back wall and a side section – taking advantage of a narrow passageway alongside the house – and replacing these solid surfaces with generous glazing, we connected the interiors to gardens, bringing fresh air and natural light into formerly dark and gloomy spaces, creating a sustainable renovation by working with existing spaces and materials.

Results

A new studio on the rear boundary provides dedicated spaces for writing and photography. It also frames a new courtyard and blocks the neighbour’s house, which had previously overlooked the rear yard.

An outdoor kitchen beside the rear deck provides an ideal location for “messy cooking”, with existing edible trees and plants protected through the build.

In keeping with our client’s modest budget and humble aspirations, many of the materials, fixtures and fittings were sourced locally, including recycled and salvaged items – a true approach to sustainable renovation.

This series of seemingly minor interventions creates an ecosystem of architectural spaces, and taken together, they have transformed the way the family uses the home and the way the home accommodates their needs.