The Paddington Corner Terrace, set within a conservation area, is an example of our ongoing revitalisation of the 19th-century inner-city terrace and our commitment to sustainability. The Sydney terrace house, largely reviled until the 1970s, has many positive attributes – solid and functional, it offers a high quality of accommodation while occupying far less space than the average Australian house. Essentially imported from the United Kingdom, however, it is unsuited in many ways to our lifestyle and climate – rooms are often dark and their layouts inefficient, with little relationship between inside and outside.
Originally a bakehouse built in the 1880s, the client’s brief was to convert the corner terrace into an open-plan family home, with separate formal and informal living spaces. In a densely populated part of the city, a degree of privacy for the growing family was a requirement.
Through consultation with a heritage consultant, we opened up the front of the house to contain the quieter, more formal areas. To bring light into what were once dark spaces, a new steel and timber staircase connecting the three levels was essentially turned into a lightwell, with skylight overhead, and three-storey bookcase.
An informal living area and guest rooms are located in a new wing at the rear of the site for privacy, connected to the original house by the kitchen and an elevated balcony. To distinguish the new addition from the late Victorian terrace, lightweight materials and contemporary detailing have been used.
At ground level, all living spaces open to the courtyard garden, which becomes a connecting outdoor room, bringing daylight into the centre of the house and creating rich, layered views between formal and informal spaces. Landscaping has been designed to provide privacy from the apartments overlooking the adjoining laneway.
Sensitive to its surroundings, the design optimises modern urban living in a house that is light, open and flexible, with moments of unexpected delight.
