Rearguard Action

Sydney Morning Herald

Saturday July 2, 2005

Jenna Reed Burns

Because of its heritage facade, this redesign went by the back door.

The house Croydon

Completed December 2004

Cost $300,000

Architects Sam Crawford and Jolyon Sykes, Sam Crawford Architects, 9280 3555

Builder Owner

Structural engineer Dennis Cowell, 9949 4386

Joiner Steve Kidson, Claremont Joinery, 9790 2344

Landscape design Daniel Baffsky, 360 Degrees Landscape Architects, 9212 2204

The aim To design a rear open-plan living area to make the most of the north-facing aspect and connect the house to the garden.

From the street - a quiet cul-de-sac lined with 1930s dark-brick bungalows - there's no sign of the thoroughly modern rear extension that's been built behind one of the houses. Such architectural discretion is understandable: these inter-war houses are heritage-protected.

It's only when you reach the end of the driveway that the new addition is revealed: a fibro-clad extension and matching garage, both painted white, joined to the old house by a soft-green, fibro-clad link. There's something about the juxtaposition of materials, styles and colours that's exciting and at the same time not entirely out of place.

"There was an old fibro skillion veranda on the back of the house, with a kitchen off one end of it," says architect Sam Crawford. "Essentially, we've replaced it with a larger skillion addition, also in fibro, the idea being to make a much bigger veranda space. Obviously there's more to it than that, but the new addition does reflect what was there."

Comprising a large open-plan kitchen, living and dining area, the new extension is indeed like a giant veranda, opening to a north-facing back garden. Its dazzling white interior, filled with light that floods in through a bank of folding glass doors with louvres above, is in marked contrast to the interior of the original part of the house with its patterned plaster ceilings and subdued, dark-stained timber trim.

The front section of the house is now primarily used for sleeping. The sitting room was converted into a third bedroom and the adjacent dining room is now a media room. A low-ceilinged passageway, with a new second bathroom on one side and a laundry on the other, links the old and new sections of the house.

ZONING THE SPACE

The rear addition is about the same size as the original part of the house.

"It's a relatively big space," says Crawford, "but, on the other hand, not when you have to fit a kitchen, dining room, living area and breakfast area into it."

Lighting and furniture placement define the separate zones. The ceiling, which follows the roof line, also helps to divide the space - staying level over the kitchen and dining area before tilting up towards the sun at the back.

Helping to hide the view of neighbouring units until the garden grows is a line of louvres above the back doors.

"We considered running the doors up to the ceiling, which would have been quite a beautiful gesture, but having louvres above separated by a beam focuses your attention down and out," says Crawford. "Plus the louvres allow ventilation at night without having to open the doors."

PRIMARY COLOURS

The extension's all-white interior is enlivened by small touches of colour. Hidden under a cantilevered credenza, which provides storage for dinnerware and CDs, are fluorescent bulbs fitted with red, blue and white film. With the flick of a switch, the space under the credenza glows with whichever colour takes the owner's fancy.

Cut-out niches at either end of the reconstituted stone island bench are also treated with colour - canary yellow at one end, cherry red at the other - which matches the colour of the kitchen's glass splashback. Again, concealed lights within the niches allow these spaces to glow after dark.

"The coloured niches give relief to what's otherwise a very blocky piece of furniture and the fluoro lighting bumps up the colour," Crawford says.

OUTDOOR ENTERTAINING SPACE

In one corner of the back garden is an entertaining area, with a stainless-steel benchtop and matching gas barbecue. The area is covered with a pergola fitted with bamboo rods.

Two walls enclose the space - one behind the barbecue and another at the rear. Both feature cut-out slots or windows that provide glimpses of the garden behind.

"The windows were intended to frame a view of the landscape," says Crawford. "Basically it's a very small backyard, so we wanted to give it a sense of depth. The light walls in front of the darker coloured fence give a sense of the space beyond."

© 2005 Sydney Morning Herald

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