Sensitive alterations and a new rear addition to a freestanding house in a heritage conservation area are carefully composed to provide significant additional room for a growing family. Remaining intact, the front primary form will be sympathetically restored and refurbished to enhance its historic character, while the form of the new addition purposely defers to established conditions of the original house in the manner in which it is sub-ordinate to and springs from it – at a macro level and in contemporaneous interpretation of particular elements and details.

New side walls align with, and extend from, existing walls through vertically expressed rear corners for clear legibility between old and new, while its height is rigorously controlled to sneak in under the existing rear eave. The original roof pitch is echoed in ground & first floor angled wall faces and a rear roof plane – and concurrently reflected in various internal elements and external steel hood details. A concrete upstand extrapolates the line of the front sandstone foundation around the base of the addition, while an arched street-facing window and new internal arches provide contemporary nods to the arched openings of the original façade – enabling old and new fabric to enmesh a unique spatial sequence and efficient circulation along the length of the house.

A four-metre high rear ‘grand room’ provides a generosity of volume for kitchen, dining, and living areas which directly expand to a landscaped courtyard garden, while a second living space within the original footprint will allow separation of adult and children’s functions when required. New bedroom, bathroom and laundry spaces will vastly improve its amenity, and an original front sitting room can be flexibly adapted for use as a study or future guest bedroom.

The addition incorporates numerous sustainability measures inclusive of high levels of wall, slab, ceiling and roof insulation and thermally-efficient double glazing to achieve a 7-star rating – as well as, low carbon concrete, hydronic in-slab heating, an electric instantaneous hot water system, a PV solar system for renewal energy generation with battery storage, and underground water storage for re-use in the house and landscape. The original front half will also incorporate new roof, ceiling, and floor insulation to greatly improve its energy efficiency and thermal comfort.

Date: 2023 -
Location: Annandale, Sydney / Gadigal Land

Structural Engineer: SDA Structures
Planner: Strategic Approvals
Heritage Consultant: Touring the Past
Energy Consultant: Sustainability Certified
Surveyor: ESA Surveying
Model: Christopher Polly Architect
Model Photography: Christopher Polly Architect