コメント
Houzz Tour: A Sandstone Worker's Cottage Balances Old and New
A modern addition to a 130-year-old cottage respects the details and history of the original house
Rebecca Gross
2019年1月30日
Balmain, Sydney, was a thriving industrial centre in the 1800s, home to a coal mine, metal foundry, shipbuilding, boiler making, engineering and soap factories. With industry came a demand for cheap housing, and entrepreneurial developers bought blocks of land to build tiny cottages that they rented to local workers. Many of these worker’s cottages have since been demolished, but for those that have been restored and modernised, the humble worker’s cottage is often no longer what it seems, with single-storey facades becoming clever disguises for contemporary homes.
That’s certainly the case for this sandstone worker’s cottage built circa 1887. Kate Mountstephens Architecture+Heritage has updated the home, finding the balance between retaining the character of the original cottage and modernising it for today’s lifestyle. “The clients loved the details and history of the original house and its ‘battle scars’ that result from age,” says Kate Mountstephens. “They also like contemporary design, so the key was to combine the two.”
That’s certainly the case for this sandstone worker’s cottage built circa 1887. Kate Mountstephens Architecture+Heritage has updated the home, finding the balance between retaining the character of the original cottage and modernising it for today’s lifestyle. “The clients loved the details and history of the original house and its ‘battle scars’ that result from age,” says Kate Mountstephens. “They also like contemporary design, so the key was to combine the two.”
Images by Robert Walsh Photography
Houzz at a Glance
Who lives here: A couple and their cat, Kimba
Location: Balmain, NSW
Size: 150 square metres; three bedrooms, two bathrooms
Architect: Kate Mountstephens Architecture+Heritage
Builder: Siltala Constructions
The double-fronted house is wider than many of the typical worker’s cottages and the rear almost faces due north, providing all-day sunlight. The clients had previously worked with a stonemason to complete a careful restoration of the front of their cottage. The rear, however, had an existing extension containing the kitchen and dining area that Mountstephens describes as a “hodgepodge timber addition – cold in winter, hot in summer and providing minimal connection to the garden”.
Houzz at a Glance
Who lives here: A couple and their cat, Kimba
Location: Balmain, NSW
Size: 150 square metres; three bedrooms, two bathrooms
Architect: Kate Mountstephens Architecture+Heritage
Builder: Siltala Constructions
The double-fronted house is wider than many of the typical worker’s cottages and the rear almost faces due north, providing all-day sunlight. The clients had previously worked with a stonemason to complete a careful restoration of the front of their cottage. The rear, however, had an existing extension containing the kitchen and dining area that Mountstephens describes as a “hodgepodge timber addition – cold in winter, hot in summer and providing minimal connection to the garden”.
Mountstephens retained the stone cottage, demolished the addition, extended the existing living room and designed a two-storey volume at the rear. “We had to be very careful about potential impact on the streetscape as the building sits within a heritage conservation area,” says Mountstephens. “This meant the two-storey addition had to sit well back from the street and behind the main roof form of the old cottage.”
The materials palette combines new and old with warm, contemporary selections that complement the original materials without trying to match them. “Grey-brown recycled bricks approximate the colour of the stone. The colours of the aggregate in the polished concrete floor give it an overall warm-grey appearance that sits well with the sandstone and original kauri floorboards. New joinery is in blackbutt, which complements the colour of the kauri,” says Mountstephens.
Recycled grey-brown bricks: Reco Building Supplies
The materials palette combines new and old with warm, contemporary selections that complement the original materials without trying to match them. “Grey-brown recycled bricks approximate the colour of the stone. The colours of the aggregate in the polished concrete floor give it an overall warm-grey appearance that sits well with the sandstone and original kauri floorboards. New joinery is in blackbutt, which complements the colour of the kauri,” says Mountstephens.
Recycled grey-brown bricks: Reco Building Supplies
The house has two bedrooms and a study in the front of the home. The living, kitchen and dining areas are at the rear, opening to a courtyard, and the master bedroom is on the second floor.
The clients’ brief asked for ‘relaxed elegance’ and they wanted to capitalise on the sunlight as it moved through the spaces of the house. Mountstephens was eager to sensitively balance heritage and contemporary elements with a design that respected the old house but didn’t freeze its aesthetic in time. “I wanted to raise the levels of natural light, increase the sunlight coming in during winter, provide living spaces that were generous but not oversize and connect the living areas to the garden,” she says.
The clients’ brief asked for ‘relaxed elegance’ and they wanted to capitalise on the sunlight as it moved through the spaces of the house. Mountstephens was eager to sensitively balance heritage and contemporary elements with a design that respected the old house but didn’t freeze its aesthetic in time. “I wanted to raise the levels of natural light, increase the sunlight coming in during winter, provide living spaces that were generous but not oversize and connect the living areas to the garden,” she says.
The living area has been extended by about one metre towards the garden to create more space, and a previous step has been levelled out to create better continuity. Extending the space allowed a larger opening between the living and dining/kitchen for better flow between rooms, and wider glass sliding doors improve the flow of natural light.
Recycled kauri flooring in the new addition complements the existing kauri in the original cottage.
Recycled kauri flooring in the new addition complements the existing kauri in the original cottage.
The existing staircase, which was built in a renovation by the previous owners, was retained.
Mountstephens and her clients worked together on the interior design, with assistance from interior designer Jen White for soft furnishings.
The clients have travelled to Japan many times and have a collection of Japanese ceramics. New shelves in the living area provide room to display their collection. The joinery has a soft, almost matt, hand-painted finish.
Reupholstered Parker armchairs
The clients have travelled to Japan many times and have a collection of Japanese ceramics. New shelves in the living area provide room to display their collection. The joinery has a soft, almost matt, hand-painted finish.
Reupholstered Parker armchairs
The double-glass doors in the living area open to a covered porch with a large cupboard used for storing tools, and a shed bench made from salvaged floor joists from the living room. The door to the right of the shelves provides access to the bathroom.
Joinery: TSM Cabinets; blackbutt door handles: In-Teria
Joinery: TSM Cabinets; blackbutt door handles: In-Teria
The bathroom was designed to accommodate a bathtub and retain the original cast-iron fireplace with its stone hearth and timber mantlepiece. A new pressed-metal ceiling replaces the old one, and there is a new polished-concrete floor. Mountstephens custom-designed the blackbutt vanity and porcelain top with contemporary Vola taps.
Recessed LED fittings: Tovo
Recessed LED fittings: Tovo
The design of the dining area factored in the clients’ oval dining table from Planet Furniture. “They wanted to be able to seat eight people comfortably and 10 at a pinch,” says Mountstephens.
Finishes have texture, rather than being too crisp and modern. The new ceilings are traditional pine lining boards evocative of a shiplap finish, painted in Dulux Vivid White, and blackbutt joinery sits alongside the kitchen’s Vivid White polyurethane cupboard doors and a polished-concrete floor.
Materials are continued from inside to outside to create continuity. Timber lining boards extend from the kitchen/dining area to line the exterior underside of the first floor, and blackbutt continues in the window frames and external timber screens.
Blackbutt veneer: Briggs Veneers; Maximum porcelain benchtops: Artedomus
Finishes have texture, rather than being too crisp and modern. The new ceilings are traditional pine lining boards evocative of a shiplap finish, painted in Dulux Vivid White, and blackbutt joinery sits alongside the kitchen’s Vivid White polyurethane cupboard doors and a polished-concrete floor.
Materials are continued from inside to outside to create continuity. Timber lining boards extend from the kitchen/dining area to line the exterior underside of the first floor, and blackbutt continues in the window frames and external timber screens.
Blackbutt veneer: Briggs Veneers; Maximum porcelain benchtops: Artedomus
Both clients are keen cooks and the briefing process involved a comprehensive discussion about how they used the kitchen and the various elements required. Mountstephens hid the “messy stuff”, such as the microwave and bins, on the back side of the island, with display and crockery shelves on the front.
“The kitchen needed to be functional for two cooks working at once, so there are two prep areas: one on the island and one in the corner that has been dubbed the ‘barista corner’ as it’s perfect for the coffee machine,” says Mountstephens.
The ‘barista corner’ looks both north and west, receiving all-day sunlight. A large sliding glass door opens the kitchen to a courtyard with and outdoor dining area.
The courtyard is shaded by a frangipani tree that was transplanted from the end of the garden. There is also a new wall trellis, lighting, plantings and paving, reusing stone blocks from the old garden. The first floor provides shade for the dining room and kitchen below it.
Upstairs, the new master bedroom is above the kitchen and dining area, and a bathroom and small laundry is where the new first floor connects to the existing attic.
The existing attic had a wide dormer window facing the back of the site. Mountstephens extended a new hallway from the dormer window, past the bathroom and into the master bedroom at the rear. “There was a view to the harbour from the old dormer window in the attic and the clients were keen to retain and enhance this view. We put an angled niche with a window on the side of the hallway to capture the view,” says Mountstephens.
The existing attic had a wide dormer window facing the back of the site. Mountstephens extended a new hallway from the dormer window, past the bathroom and into the master bedroom at the rear. “There was a view to the harbour from the old dormer window in the attic and the clients were keen to retain and enhance this view. We put an angled niche with a window on the side of the hallway to capture the view,” says Mountstephens.
The master bedroom has a walk-in wardrobe at the rear, providing plenty of storage and room to hang clothes. Joinery is MDF sheeting that’s been painted and grooved to look like timber lining boards. Leather handles are from MadeMeasure.
A wall of joinery behind the bed partitions the wardrobe and bedroom, which is acoustically isolated from the living areas.
The master bedroom has a north-facing balcony that provides views of neighbouring rooftops, trees and the harbour.
Above the balcony is a slatted pergola that controls northern sunlight, while sliding timber screens protect against harsh western light.
The bathroom is simple and elegant with a porcelain vanity top, tiled splashback and reconstituted stone basin.
Tell us
What’s your favourite feature of this renovation? Tell us in the Comments below, like this story, save the images, and join the conversation.
More
If you like this Houzz Tour, you’ll love last week’s Garden Tour: A Coastal Home With an Easy-Care Outdoor Lifestyle
What’s your favourite feature of this renovation? Tell us in the Comments below, like this story, save the images, and join the conversation.
More
If you like this Houzz Tour, you’ll love last week’s Garden Tour: A Coastal Home With an Easy-Care Outdoor Lifestyle
おすすめの記事
エコ・サステナブル
世界の専門家が注目する、サステナブルな住まいづくりのかたちとは?
今後期待されるサステナブル=持続可能なソリューションとは?Houzzで活躍する世界の専門家に伺いました。
続きを読む
家づくりのヒント
建築家と家づくりをするメリットとは?
文/志田茂
「値段が高そう」「敷居が高い」……。建築家との家づくりは大変そうだと思っている人もいると思います。でも、唯一無二の理想の住まいを実現したいなら、建築家との家づくりはおすすめです。
続きを読む
小さな住まい
コンパクトリビングの賢いスペース活用法
コンパクトな空間は、ひとつひとつの要素が持つ「意味」が大切。スペースを最大限に生かしながら、快適に過ごせるテクニックと実例をご紹介しましょう。
続きを読む
キッチンの記事
プロに聞く、オーダーキッチンを作りたいなら知っておきたいこと
デザインと使い勝手がカスタマイズされたオンリーワンのオーダーキッチン。取り入れたいなら知っておくべきことを専門家に聞きました。
続きを読む
ライフスタイル
知っておきたい器づかいのコツ:料理をおいしく見せる器の色
文/進藤由美子
料理をおいしそうに見せる器って、どんな器でしょう? 家での食事をおいしく、楽しくする器の揃え方、使い方のコツを2回に分けてご紹介します。前編は、器の色について。
続きを読む
キッチンの記事
家事をストレスフリーに! キッチンカウンター下収納の使い方と収納アイデア
オープンタイプのキッチンが人気の今、キッチンカウンター下収納はその後の使いやすさを左右する重要な検討事項です。種類別カウンター下収納の特徴を参考に、家族が使いたくなるキッチンまわりをつくりましょう。
続きを読む
家づくりのヒント
心地よい住まいを実現するために、自分に問うべき質問とは?
インテリアのプロたちが依頼主に、最初に投げかける質問があります。それに対する自分の答えと向き合うことで、自分と住まいとの関係をよりよく変えていきましょう。
続きを読む
和室の記事
やさしい光を採り入れる「障子」の魅力
日本が誇る自然素材の美しきミニマルデザイン、障子は、私たちが考えている以上に幅広い応用力のある室内建具。この伝統の機能美を、改めて見直してみたいものです。
続きを読む
地域別特集
美しい伝統を守りながら、現代的技術で暮らしを快適に。京都に建つ14の住まい
文/藤間紗花
Houzzでみつけた、京都市内に建つ住まいの事例を、手がけた専門家の解説とともにご紹介します。
続きを読む