This quintessential 70s suburban brick residence had all of the shortcomings typical of its period — however with equal quantities of appeal.
The house owners — jeweller Liz Ickiewicz and her husband — liked the robustness of the brown brick abode, and have been notably hooked up to the arched entrance porch. The following renovation, designed by Fowler and Ward, due to this fact focused on fixing the failings while embracing and dealing with the character.
‘The shoppers have been the visionaries,’ explains Jessie Fowler, director of Fowler and Ward. ‘They determined that this explicit home deserved a thought of, delicate and architectural renovation, quite than to be knocked down.’
The aim was easy; tweak the home ‘simply sufficient’ to function as a sensible, vibrant and extra sustainable household residence.
‘Liz’s transient included a picture of a really northern-suburbs entrance backyard that includes a concrete dolphin fountain. After seeing that, we knew she was critical about retaining the brown-brick vibes!’, says Jessie.
One of many primary issues the house introduced was lack of pure gentle. The south-facing lounge was positioned on the rear of the home with little connection to the massive yard, and was fully separated from the eat-in kitchen.
However, there have been additionally loads of positives. The shoppers didn’t require further house, quite areas that felt extra linked, heat and vibrant. The three present bedrooms and entrance lounge have been additionally ‘greater than ample’, with the primary bed room being giant sufficient to simply accommodate a brand new ensuite inside the present footprint.
Fowler and Ward addressed the dearth of pure gentle by opening up the again of the home to create an open plan dwelling, eating and kitchen house. The outdated kitchen in the meantime was transformed into an environment friendly providers hub that now accommodates the household lavatory, powder room, laundry and a compact research.
A small 8sqm extension was added to include a north-west dealing with window, which along with an east-facing kitchen window, skylight and huge financial institution of sliding glass doorways, works to flood the again of the house with gentle.
Preserving the extension tucked below the eaves of the house’s rectangular hipped roof required a decrease ceiling peak. However as Jessie explains, ‘Inherent constraints of present homes usually present the most effective design alternatives, and we like to make the most of them!’
To offset the decrease ceiling, Fowler and Ward designed a sunken lounge that not solely properly delineates the dwelling space from the open-plan areas, but additionally offers a extra intimate connection to the backyard.
‘Some areas simply draw you in, and that is certainly one of them,’ says Jessie.
When it got here to the color palette, the architects took their cues from the period of the home; the heat of the unique brown brick, present timber trim and amber glass sliding doorways. Colors within the south-facing dwelling areas are vibrant and barely much less saturated than the wealthy heat tones on the entrance of the home.
The ensuing house is all the pieces the shoppers hoped it could be; gentle, heat, vibrant, not too huge and with an exquisite connection to the outside.
Jessie provides, ‘[This project] demonstrates that this usually missed housing inventory solely wants minimal intervention to be invigorated and accommodate modern household life.’
