RETHINKING THE NORTH FACING STREET ORIENTATION

Back to Front House

Location

Waverley, Sydney

Completion

2008

Type

Residential

We began the design by thinking about how we could transform a front yard facing north to function with the attributes of a back yard. Our idea was to turn the house back to front – reconfiguring the entry to the side of the block, and creating parking off a rear lane, we were able to push the house to the back of the site to allow a large private garden to the north.

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Concept Diagram
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Site Lines Urban Scale
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Site Lines - First Floor
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Concept Diagram
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Within the complex geometry of the site we gave each floor plan a different layout according to its position in relation to the datum of the boundary fence – for the more private ground floor we created orthogonal rooms orientated to the sun and the garden. For the upper level the geometry shifts to increase privacy and capture views across the suburban landscape and to the ocean beyond.

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Unfolded Plan and Elevations
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Ground Floor Plan
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First Floor Plan
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Unfolded Plan and Elevations
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Ground Floor Plan
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At the completion of the ground level masonry the idea of the house was clearly expressed – a grouping of rooms with thickened thresholds acting like knuckles that join and shape multiple spaces within the ground floor plan.

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Credits

Team

Andrew Burges, Jeremy Bull, Louise Lovmand, Celia Carroil

Builder

Everest Constructions

Press

2010

Houses Magazine