Existing house is a modest single-storey street frontage with corrugated metal living room extensionat the rear. Front portion of the house has a quirky asymmetrical tri-partite layout. Wide hallway runsdown the middle of the house. Northern portion houses two bedrooms with mezzanine over andbunker like bathrooms. Southern portion houses a garage with mezzanine study over andkitchen. Stairs to both mezzanines come off the hallway in ladder-like fashion and creates undesirableunder-croft space. Layout of the house is disjointed and open-plan posing acoustic and privacyconcerns. Despite all the drudgeries, there are elements to be celebrated in the existing steel rooftrusses and the generous height of the raked ceiling. Client's aspiration is to create an interconnected livingspace within the house and an interior make over throughout.
The renovation brief includes a new kitchen-dining area, two bathrooms, two stairs, laundry, and newflooring throughout. Works required are extensive whilst the budget is a modest one. The newintervention needs to be an exercise of restraint. Existing house is characterised by industrialfinishes visible on the steel roof trusses and trowelled concrete floor. New elements continuethis narrative by referencing existing finishes. White Oak engineered timber floor boards are usedthroughout to provide softness, comfort and continuity.
The new kitchen-dining area anchors the heart of the house, leading one in from entry into existingliving room at rear of the house. The kitchen layout is one of long and linear. Selected finishes tokitchen are neutral. Grey ceramic tiles are used as bench top finish to stove bench edged with greysteel plate. Carrara marble kitchen island bench are wrapped on three sides with grey steel platesurround. Large mirror splashback introduced depth and break the linearity. Robust grey structuralsteel angles are used to fabricate dining table base, in contrast to the delicate marble top it holds.Kitchen cabinetry is made up of spray painted finish. Concealed behind the kitchen are two newbathrooms. They act as buffer between kitchen-dining room and the bedrooms. Bathrooms arecompact in footprint but hold tall volume. Two new limed-plywood stairs are provided to access themezzanines. One is located inside walk in robe area ascending to mezzanine bedroom over with viewto the pond in rear garden. The other ascends adjacent to laundry leading to mezzanine study above.Selection of finishes took cue from existing industrial detail and palette was kept neutral, with theintention to create a light and calming space.
In overall, we wanted the finished product to be a humble blank canvas for the client to continuepainting. The outcome is a modest seamless interior effortlessly disguising the old as new.
