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Sydney’s inner-city streets are full of century-old workers’ cottages that are just waiting for the right person to unlock their untapped potential.
Before its recent renovation by Architect George, this house in Rosebery was one such home.
Like many heritage dwellings from the era, it had the usual faults: little to no connection to the outdoors, a lack of sunlight, and a footprint that was too tight for the growing family of four who had moved in a few years before.
‘Our clients [Sarah and Justin] loved their old, humble home and the mix of eclectic buildings that are situated in the street and the rear laneway,’ Architect George director Dean Williams says.
Their brief expressed a particular love of mid-century architecture’s sleek lines and material honesty. The family tasked the architects with finding ways to incorporate this look and feel in the renovation, which also had to find room for new spaces and maintain the original cottage’s modest expression.
It all started with a refurbishment of the facade. Inside, the front bedroom and living space on the ground floor remain in place, alongside a refreshed attic bedroom nestled into the original roof pitch.
The rest of the residence was reimagined around a new central courtyard with terracotta tiles. The garden’s careful positioning was crucial to overcome the constraints of the narrow site, ensuring the new spaces could stretch the full length of the property.
Floor-to-ceiling glass doors unfold to the garden, located alongside a 12-metre galley kitchen with jarrah timber joinery, followed by the dining room and the main bathroom — a hardworking sequence designed to accommodate the demands of modern family life.
‘This provides ease for the family [juggling] bath time for the young kids, whilst dinner is on the go. Their son Arthur can be in the bath playing with toys and debriefing about the day with parents Sarah and Justin while they cook,’ Dean says.
Drawing on the client’s love of mid-century modern design, the renovated palette is full of texture. Polished concrete flooring meets exposed brick walls, as timber rafts on the ceiling emphasise the rich red theme that continues throughout.
In addition to maximising natural light throughout, the courtyard also helped split the private and public areas of the home.
The new two-storey extension houses the garage and utility spaces at the rear, providing laneway access where the family can kick a ball or host a party, with the bedrooms nestled upstairs.
‘The design avoids drawing attention to itself within the urban context. From the street, no architectural additions are visible. From the laneway, the building’s presentation is a pared-back curation of timber, brick, operable screening and steel detailing,’ Dean adds.
He sees the renovation as a continuation of Architect George’s exploration in avoiding ‘a one-size-fits-all kind of architecture’, instead seeking to create homes that are equal parts practical and personal.
Best of all, the project also extends the life of the old cottage for the next generation, with plenty of room for the family in the years to come.
