Kensington House

2024 Gadi Country / Kensington, NSW

A young family purchased a 1970s red brick home, driven by a desire to live more simply. Underpinned by solid bones, the renovation was a joyous exercise in restraint.

The brief was to design a robust, family-friendly renovation, suitable for parents with three energetic children, within a firm budget.

The house is in a prime location adjacent to scrubby bushland overlooking a golf course. Double brick and with a typical 70s layout of multiple separate rooms, it also came with a level yard and a huge pool.

Our main interventions were spatial – upstairs removing walls to open up living spaces and downstairs the opposite, converting oversized spaces into separate more well-proportioned rooms.

Despite the challenges of material delays and rising costs caused by the pandemic, the result is a series of careful alterations to create a comfortable, warm home.

Internally the entry level was re-configured to house a foyer/mud room, generous open kitchen, living, dining and a parent’s bedroom/bathroom. Existing structural slabs were exposed, cut and polished for a terrazzo-like floor finish. Two skylights, a timber screen and a fine timber and steel balustrade add light and detail to the updated entry sequence.

Downstairs, oversized rooms were re-configured to create three equal-sized spacious bedrooms, a study, rumpus, bathroom and laundry.

Aside from a new roof, the addition of skylights and a neatening of the front parapet, the other major external changes were a new slimline aluminium balustrade and white timber pergola to a broken-down balcony and new paint.

Existing timber and aluminium windows in poor condition were replaced with new white timber windows. Where window sizes and sill locations were changed, and the existing bricks could not be matched, similar bricks were used, revealing the history of the house.

Carefully chosen finishes and fittings, such as tiles and light fittings, were selected with costs and quality firmly in mind. The affordable detailing and materiality of the built-in joinery, in blue, green and neutral colours, allowed generous fit outs throughout the home.

Sitting within stunning gardens lovingly landscaped by our clients, this house is going to be a great family home for many years to come.

More with less.

Project Team

Sam Crawford, Jarad Grice, Christine Guan, Justin Pak

Consultant Team

Structural Engineer – Structure Consulting Engineers
Landscape Architect – Hugh Burnett Landscape Architects
Private Certifier – BC Australia
Surveyor – CMS Surveyors
Quantity Surveyor – QS Plus
Joiner – Husk & Co

Builder

SQ Projects

Council

Randwick City Council

Photographer

Brett Boardman