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The original houses in Castlecrag, in Sydney’s inner-north, were designed by esteemed architects Walter Burley Griffin and Marion Mahony Griffin to offer beautiful views of the surrounding bushland and ocean.
Downie North’s Castlecrag Courtyard project follows the design of the suburb’s original homes by letting its landscape breathe.
‘Castlecrag is a very special part of Sydney,’ lead architect Daniel North says.
‘Walter Burley Griffin and Marion Mahony Griffin envisaged it as a bushland suburb, where the roads, houses and public walkways would follow the natural contours of the land. There’s a wonderful generosity to their planning, with paths that wander through the sandstone outcrops and eucalypts, connecting little reserves and places to pause and appreciate the landscape.
‘What’s interesting is that the landscape was never intended to be something left over after the buildings were arranged. It came first. So we wanted to continue that thinking.’
A family of five had lived in the heritage suburb for over a decade and loved its bushland, but knew their run-down home wasn’t taking advantage of its unique site.
This inspired Downie North to design and rebuild the 1980s home from scratch. They let the architecture follow the land’s natural contours, making the most of the site’s expansive southerly views toward the city and out to the ocean, while taking a modern, considered approach to highlight the suburb’s heritage — taking cues from the ‘cave-like quality’ that Castlecrag houses are known for.
‘From this elevated position, the land falls away towards Middle Harbour and the horizon beyond. There’s an almost weightless sensation, as though you’re suspended above the landscape,’ he says.
Rather than a standard level home, the house follows the movement of the land, creating a series of platforms with softer geometries that lead to moments of enclosure and contrasting openness. The bedrooms and bathrooms are intentionally intimate, while the living areas open to the sky and harbour.
‘We didn’t want the whole house to reveal itself immediately. There’s pleasure in discovering it gradually,’ he adds.
This gradual reveal connects two experiences: being enveloped by the architecture while letting the trees, sky and horizon take centre stage.
The house was also arranged around a north-facing courtyard of native and locally endemic plants, bringing natural light into the living spaces, which then open to southerly harbour views.
‘The courtyard is intimate and protected, where you’re very aware of the plants, the sandstone and the movement of sunlight. Then you move into the living spaces, and suddenly there’s this extraordinary sense of openness,’ says Daniel.
‘We began to think of it as part cave, part tree house. A protective concrete structure grounded in the sandstone, with lighter timber elements perched above.’
The material palette was selected for durability. Spotted gum cladding, sandstone paving, terrazzo, and a timber board ceiling were all chosen for their textural grain and imperfections.
‘Each part of the house has its own material character, but everything belongs to a related family. We wanted materials to be recognisable for what they are, rather than covered up or made to look like something else,’ he says.
It’s now a family home that’ll adapt alongside the client’s changing lives, becoming richer with each new memory formed in their forever home.
‘At Castlecrag Courtyard, we wanted to make something that belonged to the landscape and would become more meaningful through the family’s occupation of it,’ Daniel says.
‘The sandstone, trees and harbour were here long before the house, and they’ll continue to shape how it’s experienced into the future.’
