Addition to a 1980's 'Modern' Residence

The S House project involved the extension of an existing 1980’s ‘modern’ style, rendered masonry residence. The brief called for extra bedroom space to suitably accommodate the increasing independence of the clients’ adult children. Inherent within this brief was the need to balance the separation of these new spaces with a desire to maintain a spatial relationship within the ‘community’ of the larger home.

The realisation of this project, as an addition to the front of the house, also offered the opportunity to reinterpret the relationship of the house to the street both in program and aesthetically.

The principle design strategy employed in response to this brief, was to develop a generous, light filled, ‘public’ lobby positioned to act as a hinge between the house and the street; the street and the formal ‘public’ areas of the house; and the public and private parts of the house (which include the new areas).

Providing a number of vantage points within the lobby reinforces this space as a place of orientation. The bridge over the entry door, the sandstone plinth at the base of the stairs and the staircase landing, all allow other parts of the house to be overlooked. The occupation of this space as a place of transition – somewhere to wait before moving on, or to move through on your way to another area is encouraged by places to greet or wait (the sandstone bench seat that runs from the outside the entry door into the lobby and the plinth at the base of the stairs) while the display of artwork within this space introduces an enjoyable distraction. The staircase that wraps around this lobby space and serves the new additional areas successfully imparts to these new spaces a separate, clearly defined address within the rest of the house.

From the street, the lobby is expressed as a slender tower clad in zinc that is flanked by two, shorter boxes on both sides. This aesthetically expresses the functions that are contained within the new addition – the white box contains bedrooms and associated spaces, the box hung off the entry tower contains the staircase that wraps around the lobby space. By setting the openings that face the street within deep recesses, the solidity of these elements are expressed, while these deep recesses also protect these openings against the western, afternoon sun.

The emphasis in the street elevation on the entry tower, through its proportion and it’s cladding of precious zinc, refers to other precedent within the local area. The suburb and the particular street in which this residence is located, contains a number of examples of residences which present to the street with elaborate gates, sweeping driveways and gracious front staircases and verandas. In this project the form of the entry is abstracted to suit the modern form of the existing residence. Where the other residences use elements that sit separately from the house (gates, entry steps, veranda) this project manipulates the proportion and fabric of the built form to create an entry and presence in the street that is, in its own way, celebratory and theatrical. This addition has allowed this house to now sits with its finery on display as a participant within the spectacle of the street.