project: small terrace house renovation in Surry Hills

This project involved the total renovation of a very dark terrace house. The existing house had all of the normal dysfunctional aspects of most terrace houses - it was dark, falling apart, aesthetically outdated and the planning was very poor, due to the series of poor quality additions at the rear, including kitchen, bathroom and laundry. The bathroom blocked the living areas from the garden and there was no real connection between inside and outside.

plan

description

We came up with a strategy by which bathrooms were moved to the middle of the house, thereby allowing the kitchen to be at the rear opening up to the garden. This has many advantages, which include connecting the kitchen and dining area with the garden, bringing light into the house, making the house seem bigger by borrowing spatially from the garden and making the bathroom more private as it now opens off a hall. We made very contemporary and modern changes to the house.

terrace

We used a technique used extensively by Jorn Utzon in which the window frames are fitted to the outside of the walls. This creates the effect of leaving clean simple window reveals which draw the outside in visually. All of the latest technology was integrated into the house bringing it into the 21st century. The changes to the house were made within a budget by not disturbing the structural integrity of the house to a large extent. Now the house feels much bigger than one would image it to be from the outside.

terrace

The stair was moved into the centre of the house and it rose up dramatically into a double height void space. The stair was designed as a sculptural piece while being made out of timber to limit cost blowouts. A beautiful wine display cabinet was recessed into the living room wall and a flat screen TV mounted to the other wall. Moving the stair benefited both the living area and master bedroom which are now private and restful. Special attention was paid to the design of the windows.