AEA CONSTRUCTIONS

Summary

The site for these alterations and additions is basically a flat site, which is fairly narrow, but quite long for a suburban lot. The existing house was a single storey late federation home with various add-ons’ and renovation over various decades, destroying the original federation character. The most significant influence on design by the architects’ was the close proximity of the neighbouring two storey houses to the side boundaries, which limited the outlook from the site. The existing house was built with minimum setbacks to the boundaries, which meant that when neighbours have increased the height of their houses in recent years, our clients’ house had become overshadowed and dark.

The architects’ brief for this project was in essence to add another floor to the existing single storey residence to accommodate the bedrooms and to use the gained space from moving all the bedrooms upstairs to create a larger living space, study and single car garage.

With the intention of opening up the interior of the house to light and ventilation, the central formal dining room was created as a double height volume, opening out onto a courtyard at first floor level. High level aluminium & glass louvres on both sides of this central void allows cross ventilation through the heart of the house and draws cooling air in from other spaces. Northern sun can penetrate deep into the internal part of the house in winter. Bedrooms are situated either side and gain access to the first floor courtyard. The courtyard is screened from the neighbour to the north and thus creates a private internal open courtyard that can be used all year round. All the first floor bedrooms have highlight windows facing the side boundaries, which gain additional light and ventilation for each room without being impacted on by the neighbouring houses. To the very rear of the upper floor is the main bedroom and ensuite bathroom, which overlooks the extensive garden and in-ground concrete swimming pool to the west. The introduction of the first floor courtyard has enabled all rooms to face either towards the street or towards the rear which has maximised both outlook and privacy, while allowing large ground floor living, dining and utility areas.

The construction of the house utilised several different, yet harmonious, building elements such as masonry, timber framing, commercial section aluminium & glass windows/doors, decorative plywood, fibre cement cladding, structural steel and perspex cladding. The most predominant feature of the home is the blend of the architectural structural steel, the MacRendered masonry/fibro surfaces and the aluminium windows & doors.

The end result is a stunning contemporary, yet practical, family home with lots of space.

Photography: Marian Riabic