Situated on a small inner city suburban site with restrictive building covenants which limited the house form, scale and materials, the design treaded a fragile path between historical and contemporary ideologies. The form to the street was divided into the proportions established by the Victorian era villas with bays, appendages and a referential sun room. The balance of the house is based on a courtyard model most suited to the small site.
Where the building abuts the boundary, fire resistant materials are employed and wrap the street side pavilion which contains the garage on the ground floor and an upper floor series of rooms with flexible end usage. In the long term this pavilion which has its own access and stairs could be converted to an office or self contained flat.
The central living area links the two storied pavilions at the front and rear of the site as well as forming the fourth wall to the outdoor courtyard onto which all living spaces open. The rear timber clad pavilion contains the main bedroom, sitting room and facilities. This materiality responds to the typical neighbourhood backyard occupancy patterns that include timber clad sleep outs, studio huts and miscellaneous sheds. The roof forms were governed by covenants upon the site set by the previous owners.
The prime element of the brief was that the house needed to accommodate up three generations of the family and has so far delivered on this demand.
