Hidden Garden House

Our clients’ brief was to alter their house providing light & warm spaces, passively heated & cooled.

They wanted quality over quantity, improved functionality, and low maintenance.

 

 

The existing kitchen / dining space once opened to the rear yard through full width bi-fold doors. However, the low head-height of the doors meant that this connection failed to capitalise on the qualities of the north facing double-width block.

An oversized fiddlewood tree and degraded rear deck also detracted from the potential of the outdoor spaces. Upstairs, the main bedroom opened onto an enclosed balcony, and the walk-in-robe and en-suite were set a half level below.

Our response was to demolish the existing rear pavilion and create a new hidden roof garden above a 4.5m high wall of glass. The lower floor clerestory rises almost a meter above the floor level of the main bedroom. The ensuite is re-located from the depths of the plan to sit within the new roof garden creating a private oasis where the combination of the raised garden and strategically placed screens allow our clients to bathe and inhabit the main bedroom in complete privacy with views of the garden and sky beyond.

A restrained, consistent & earthy palette means the house feels settled & exudes a sense of calm whilst allowing for moments of delight.

Entry from the street is through a small door in a tall, ivy-covered, wall – a remnant of 19th century stables that once occupied the site. The front door is reached via a secluded courtyard. Upon entry into the house an open steel framed stair provides glimpses through the dwelling without compromising privacy. An enlarged skylight brings ample light to what was once one of the darkest spaces in the house. A new light well provides light to a new guest bathroom on the upper floor and lower floor bathroom and laundry.

The curved ceiling and double height openings in the kitchen dining room draw the eye up and out to the landscaped rear yard and sky beyond. Our clients love being able to track a flock of birds across the sky and the sense of space extends into the surrounding neighbourhood.

Solar access and cross ventilation are carefully managed so that the house requires very little heating in winter, and no air conditioning in summer.

Landscape design was undertaken by Sam Crawford Architects; the roof garden in collaboration with Fytogreen.

Hidden Garden House Gallery

Plans

Project info	Details
Team	Sam Crawford, Jarad Grice, Scott Rowland, Sofia Nay, Jarrod Ruchalski, Matt Bolton, Ken Warr
Builder	Toki
Consultants	Structural Engineer: Cantilever Engineers Civil & Hydraulic Engineer: Partridge Heritage Consultant: Damian O’Toole Town Planning Quantity Surveyor: QS Plus Landscape Design: Gabrielle Pelletier, SCA Roof Garden Supplier: Fytogreen Australia
Council	Inner West Council
Photographer	Tom Ferguson
Awards	2024 – AIA NSW Shortlist for Residential Architecture – Houses
Published	House & Garden, May 2024 Green Magazine issue 94 ArchDaily Dezeen
Completion	2022

 

---