Sunburst

Additions to Old English style houses can be tricky! But this example by Sydney-based architects Tribe Studio is one of our absolute favourites.  It beautifully captured all that is fabulous about this suburban 1930s style.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The brief was to make the house, which  was modest but solidly built, function more effectively for a young family.  This involved making it more spacious with an improved connection to the 362 sq m garden.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Most of the changes were located at the rear and upstairs. They replaced the rear ground floor with a new pavilion, reducing the building footprint slightly by 4sqm to 129 sq m. The back now in part houses a big open plan kitchen, living and dining room. And one of the original formal reception rooms at the front of the house is now the master bedroom and en suite bathroom. Two children’s bedrooms, a bathroom and playroom are located in the roof extension, with its extended gable. Small room sizes respect the original order of the house, while adding multiple uses, and it now has photovoltaic cells, water collection tanks, hydronic heating system, high thermal mass, and well functioning cross ventilation.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tribe describes the house as ’whimsically and nonsensically detailed – with a bit of Tudor and a bit of California Bungalow style, there are all sorts of things going on.’  The front elevation’s brick sunburst feature has been reinterpreted at the back, while the lead light windows at the front reinvented as steel window frames at the rear. Tribe described it as a “kind of material palette call and response between the public and private faces of the building,”.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The design embraces the suburban red brick.  While it is a continuation of materials the bricks are used in such a contemporary way that the distinction is made.