Rhythm And Flow
Creating a coherent connection and simplifying the levels in this Sydney home was the first step in enhancing its charm and facilitating easy family living.
Judy Pascoe
Connection is a word that architect Bianca Pohio of Pohio Adams uses frequently in describing this beautifully resolved home in Sydney's eastern suburbs. Created from the shell of a Federation house sitting high on a hill with city and district views it offers facility and sophistication in equal measure, with connectivity never in doubt.
It wasn't always that way, however. The owners and their three daughters had lived in the house for three or four years after buying it in 2015 and realised that while it was a pleasant home it wasn't exactly what they wanted. "The existing connections were encumbered by challenges," says Bianca. "You couldn't walk directly from the front of the house to the back garden, nor from the garage into the house – there were different levels everywhere. However, the size was good as well as where it was located on the site."
The house had charming features and initially the plan was to enhance what was existing, creating a better flow between spaces and simplifying the layout. Like Topsy this brief quickly grew in scope into a major review of the house and its whole persona.
Three rooms downstairs at the front of the two-storey house were retained and upgraded and the back was demolished to make way for a spectacular steel and glass pavilion that hosts informal living, kitchen, laundry, powder room and study. Despite being south-facing, this space is flooded with light thanks to the soaring walls of double glazing on three sides and a circular skylight perfectly positioned to capture the undulating branches of a giant old eucalypt near the pool.
"This room is calm and beautiful and really feels like part of the garden," says Bianca. "Often people don't think of using the southern side – they think it will be cold and dark but the double glazing works really well in controlling heat and cold."