The original Aboriginal inhabitants of the City of Sydney local area are the Gadigal people of the Eora nation.
This small inner-city home is located in a conservation area settled by Europeans in the early 1840s as part of the Cooper Estate. The area is located close to industry and railway and has supported local industry over the last two centuries.
This project provided an opportunity to carry out remedial work to the original single storey cottage at the front and provide contemporary kitchen/living room at ground level and an attic bedroom and ensuite to the rear. Original features and materials were reinstated and repaired and poor quality add-ons were removed. The new addition is located at the rear of the original cottage and maintains the existing building pattern.
The new roof forms help to separate the new addition from the original cottage leaving the existing hipped roof intact. The circulation spine is reinforced in the new addition with the open stair at the end of the hall, which is backlit and ventilated by a double-height window of glass louvres.
The materials used for the addition are a nod to Alexandria’s industrial past – steel, concrete and plywood. They combine to form robust but inviting interiors that open onto a covered terrace and densely planted tropical garden designed by Bates Landscaping – to provide a small oasis amidst the bricks and mortar of surrounding buildings.