On a steep water-front site, this late Victorian Sydney cottage gets a bold new identity, highlighting its sandstone heritage and connection to the harbour. Renamed Wurrungwuri (‘the side of the river’) the house is now a tectonic experience of light, shade and spatial ambiguity.
Information
Location
Birchgrove, NSW - Traditional Custodians: Wann Peoples
Commission
2017
Groundbreaking
2020
Completion
2022
Our Team
Shaun Carter
Ben Peake
Julie Niass
Tai Lien
Collaborators
Landscape Architecture
Jane Irwin Landscape
Structural Engineering
Rebal Engineering
Construction
Artechne
Photography
Brett Boardman
Photography
Pablo Veiga
Styling
Claire Delmar
Awards
NSW Architecture Awards, Residential - Alterations & Additions
Shortlist
NSW Architecture Awards, Interior Architecture
Shortlist
NSW Architecture Awards, Heritage
Shortlist
NSW Architecture Awards, COLORBOND Award for Steel Architecture
Shortlist
INDE. Awards, The Interior Space
Shortlist
Houses Awards, Alterations & Additions Over 200m2
Shortlist
National Trust (NSW) Heritage Awards, Architecture
Shortlist
Australian Interior Design Awards, Residential Design
Shortlist
Marrickville Medal
Finalist
IDEA Awards, Residential Interior Curation
Highly Commended
IDEA Awards, Residential Single
Shortlist
Inside: World Festival of Interiors, Residential (Single Dwelling)
Shortlist
One of the first houses constructed on its street, the four-room cottage was built in 1881, with sandstone quarried from the site. Extensions were added throughout the 20th century, with no cohesion from one to the next. These alterations were removed and a new harbour-facing extension integrated, cascading over four distinct levels, cut deep into the sandstone bedrock. Linking old with new is a light-filled cylindrical staircase, encased in artfully tessellated white bricks.
The new plan cleaves into two wings reaching towards the harbour. Rooms are interwoven across these levels, infused with a sense of both the monumental and the playful, social space and the very private. Upper levels see wistfully curved light apertures, carved from the concrete strata, while lower levels reveal the cut sandstone escarpment. A tiny rooftop terrace makes an intimate retreat, while a joyful Juliette balcony looks internally over the stairs from a guest room.
