Sienna House by 868 Architects, delicately restored and renovated by Beyond Build Construction from a single-storey cottage into a contemporary double storey residence. The project investigates the balance between preservation and development, whilst paying homage to the suburban language of the surrounding south Sydney neighbourhoods.
The project carefully considers the existing single-storey cottage and not only its existing value, but its value in the locality. The renovation adopts a careful organic juxtaposition, with the addition of a contemporary, sculptural first-floor, which not only physically extends the homes footprint but acts as a symbolic extension to the home's ongoing history.
Sienna House engages in an articulate discussion between geometry and texture, utilising robust materiality to timelessly ground the home in its coastal context, whilst simultaneously abandoning typical suburban typologies in favour of exploration and innovation. Sandstone on the ground floor strengthens the homes visual weight and contextually places it within its coastal locality, whilst a fluid, curved form on the second storey adds an airy, delicate sensibility to the home's façade. This addition, wrapped in fine-textured white battens, breaks apart the repeated rigidity of the surrounding residential context and invites a dreamy interplay of light and shadow into the home's interior. This upper volume doubles as a means of privacy for the home, without sacrificing the benefits of coastal breeze and natural light.
Inside a dramatic double-height void over the dining area acts as the heart of the home. Capturing and redistributing light deep into the home's interiority, transforming the home into an auditorium to experience ever changing shadow play throughout the day and seasonal rhythms year-round. The volumetric gesture creates a moment of grand scale to juxtapose the intimacy of domestic and family life created elsewhere in the home.
Throughout the design, 868 Architects engages a retrained material palette that highlights the sensory qualities of its natural finishes. The divide between inside and out is softened through expansive glazing, in much the same way that warm oak flooring creates a continuous horizontal plane that blends together interior spaces. The home adopts an atmosphere of 'quiet luxury', wherein the home exists as a framework for co-living with the environment, rather than a means to overpower it.
Through a careful construction of volume, space and materiality, Sienna House redefines the typical coastal typology. Architecturally, the home is an explorative interplay between reverence and resistance; of a space that honours its context, but is not defined by it. Materiality and floor plan capture the essence of coastal and suburban living, ushering in natural breeze and views, and marrying into the residential context through restorative measures.
At the same time, Sienna House endeavours to separate itself from its surrounds, adopting an innovative façade and footprint that redefines coastal living typologies and creates a higher order of liveability. The result is a home that marries architectural innovation alongside heritage sensitivity, proving the two are not mutually exclusive, but essential contributors to the ongoing development of the Australian residential landscape.
If you would like to learn more about 868 Architects you can head dover to their CO-architecture profile, where you can explore other projects such as Sole House, and learn about their design principles and services.
PROJECT DETAILS
Architecture: 868 Architects
Photography: Luke Butterly
Builder: Beyond Build Construction
Landscape: Site Design Studios
Engineer: AE Consulting Engineers
