By Bennett Murada Architects
A sloping terrace house site, a dense urban environment, and a growing family (recently returned to Australia from Europe) who wanted to enjoy the Sydney sunshine and fresh air. A great brief and a great challenge.
Year
2015
Location
Stanmore NSW
Size
80sqm
Team
Trevor Black, Dom Bennett
Photographer
Simon Wood
Our brief for this Inner West alterations project was for a first floor addition and ground floor living space improvements for a growing family. The site is in a heritage conservation area with a predominantly single storey streetscape, and the land falls away to the south at the rear of the property where an existing garage addresses a rear lane.
Our design strategy focused on wrapping the living, dining room and kitchen spaces around a new courtyard, optimising daylight access to the south facing living room and including the courtyard as an extension of the living space. A new cantilevered playroom hovers over the courtyard providing weather protection to the operable living room facade. This dramatic element is part of the first floor addition, the remeinder of which is built within the existing roofline, so the house presents as a single storey heritage facade to the street.
A palette of rough sawn timber, metal cladding and structural steel characterises the external expression of the house, referencing the industrial heritage of the area. And, we really enjoyed seeing the owners add their own personality to the project through the selection of interior colours, finishes and furnishings.
Our architecture is about simple things executed beautifully. While our buildings may look different to each other, they all embody the same principles of sensual experience, sustainability, honesty of materials, construction credibility and distinction.
We are positive, responsive, and easy to work with. We gauge success by consistently developing successful ongoing relationships with those involved in our projects. We understand that an important part of our role is leading, motivating and igniting a sense of ownership across the design team. Experience has taught us that best results are achieved when all stakeholder contexts are aligned, communication is open and clear, expert input is integrated accurately, and mutual respect is won.
There is little room for ego at BMA. Our design process is genuinely collaborative, with Project Directors engaging with our broadly skilled and experienced team of 15 staff to deliver richly diverse and unique projects every time.
We also actively promote working in a collaborative environment with our clients, authorities, consultants, builders, suppliers and other team members to arrive at are fined, efficient and beautiful result.
We value not only innovative and inspirational design at a project’s inception, but rigour, clarity and accuracy during our design development, documentation, tender and construction processes.
We are skilled in the art of balancing aspirations and pragmatics, and consider cost, programme and build ability integral to the design development process. We test our design decisions against these parameters regularly and actively promote the same within the design team.
We are successfully engaged in a broad range of project types and scales, including houses, urban housing, commercial and industrial projects, and resort hospitality.