This project in the inner west of Sydney was to renovate and extend an 1860's cottage nestled amongst a row of terraced houses. The clients were interested in the heritage qualities of the cottage and the maximum use of garden and verandah spaces. They requested a contemporary addition that is sympathetic to the original cottage but clearly a modern design. The project was completed in August 2005.

The form and construction of the additions were generated from the existing cottage. The pitched roof, timber frame construction was repeated along the site to create a private north facing courtyard between the new living room and bedroom, these two new rooms are linked by a galley kitchen that runs along the southern boundary. The scale of the courtyard was conceived of as an external room that incorporated two existing Frangipanni trees. The scale of the roof forms and the extent of the eave overhangs enclosing the courtyard were determined in order to capture the sun in the winter months but provide a shaded and cool outdoor room in the summer. The doors from the living room and bedroom that open onto the courtyard are designed to slide over the external face of the building, this allows a clear opening to be read from the inside looking out. This allows the interior spaces to function as verandahs when the doors are open. The linking structure between the existing cottage and the new addition forms a second courtyard that functions as a fern garden.

All building materials used for this project were selected to insure a low embodied energy content, the timber used was sourced from ethically and environmentally sustainable forests and supplied by The Woodage in Mittagong. The roof water is collected and stored for use in the laundry and bathrooms.

Cladding: Clear finished Compressed Fibre Cement

Doors + Windows: Clear finished hardwood

Roof: Zincalume Customorb

Floors: Kwila

Builder: Nigel Howard, Spyker nigel@spyker.com.au

Engineer: John Carrick

Door + Window Joinery: Roseville Joinery

Photography: Kilian O'Sullivan, Light Room Architectural Photography