Sorrel Street House, QLD Home, Australian Contemporary Residential Building, Architecture Photos

Sorrel Street House Paddington, QLD

Queensland Real Estate Redevelopment, Australia design by Shaun Lockyer Architects

25 Apr 2019

Sorrel Street in Paddington

Design: Shaun Lockyer Architects

Location: Paddington, QLD, Australia

Sorrel is a progressive extension and alteration to a small cottage on a sloping site in Paddington. The project explores the juxtaposition between historical context and contemporary architecture within a broader subtropical paradigm.

In a somewhat controversial decision, the call was made to “leave well enough alone” and make a clear distinction between the small original cottage and the new work, keeping their respective personalities distinct. The materials used are in stark contrast to the remnant cottage with a dominant use of concrete offering a deliberate counterpoint to the vernacular.

Behind the facade, and for reasons relating to limited mobility of one of the client’s children, the design was conceived about how to create a predominantly single-story house on a sloping site. To this end, a discreet, contemporary pavilion was added to the north of the cottage, allowing the new work to create a false topography and permitting the main living spaces to flow out to the level garden.

The result was a provocative outcome with a distinct juxtaposition between what was and what is. There is a clear dialouge between two forms with certain datum’s and heights to the size and design of the new work.

Equally, the tension that exist between the modest cottage and the new extension are celebrated with change of scale and play of light. By creating a somewhat ambigous dialouge (the question is often asked if these are two houses), we retain a scale of each component that honours the scale of the original cottage.

The planning of the house responds to the client’s needs of a predominantly single-story home, along with close proximity between the main bedroom and their son’s bedroom. Beyond this, another bedroom wing is linked to the rest of the house, with the kitchen at the centre point.

The house therefore addresses all its sleeping and living needs on the upper ground floor with only garaging, storage, office and media space on the lower floor. The site has been heavily worked to create a flat lawn the opens to the north west with the pool as the punctuation mark on the site.

This house was designed to respond to the challenges the clients had experienced with their last home with regard to their child with limited mobility. This house needed to address not only these concerns but also develop their own strong interests in architecture and design. This was a very collaborative process with the result expressing a creative fusion of interests and ideas.

This is a robust, hardwearing home intended to gracefully age and limit maintenance oriented to maximise northerly winter sun. Thi timber is (by desire) to be maintained. Deep eaves, excellent cross flow ventilation and a naturally lit home make for a very sustainable long-term proposition.

Green roofs, substantial thermal mass, Low E glass and LED lighting and timbers complete Shaun Lockyer Architects’ approach to making a more relevant and enduring home.

Sorrel Street House, Paddington, QLD – Building Information

Architect: Shaun Lockyer Architects
Location: Paddington, QLD, Australia
Project Team: Shaun Lockyer Architects
Structural Engineer: Newport Consulting Engineers
General Contractor: Cule Constructions
Project Year: 2016

Photographs: Scott Burrows

Sorrel Street House in Paddington, QLD images / information received 250419

Location: Paddington, Queensland, Australia

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photography: Paul Smith Images

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