26.1.2011
Balmain House in Sydney, Australia
La idea era llevar la luz a una vieja y oscura casa victoriana. La casa original era una construcción de madera local y un fallo del L + CE la había catalogado como edificio histórico. La ampliación se proyectó detrás de la casa original. El nuevo edificio toca al antiguo a través una pequeña y luminosa conexión organizada a partir de un patio gótico donde se ubica la puerta principal.
The brief was to bring light into our clients’ home – an old Victorian that was dark and periodically tight and depressing.
The original house is an 1860s timber cottage sourced, sawn and constructed from local timber. It was little changed when we got it. A L+EC ruling had virtually made it a heritage building, which came with court-defined planning concessions.
The new addition sits sympathetically behind the original cottage. The new building touches the old through a light, small connection that locates a gothic-like courtyard and the front door. The square ground floor houses the kitchen, living and dining rooms. Large voids puncture the upper level plan, organising the space between bedroom, study and library. The voids spatially organise the ground plan defining the kitchen, dining and circulation.
The rear facade is a composition of light and shade. Strong off-form concrete blades attenuate east and west light, while marble horizontal louvres control northern light. The formal rhythm of the vertical blades is offset by the playfulness of the horizontal louvres. A roof garden hides the garage and defines an amphitheatre to the living room.