Our clients expressed a sentimentality for the Australian vernacular cottage; with its gable ends, eaves, exposed rafters, dormers in roofs overlooking landscaped front yards, bay windows into flower beds, timber shingles, trims and fretwork. Deliberately eschewing the contemporary palette of materials and forms, the effect here is to create two homes in the romantic ideal. Below is a sketch done by WMA to express this aesthetic, done at design development stage.
With the pandemic, the project changed ownership. This project is now under construction. Below is a marketing image prepared for the development, courtesy of our client. It is very much still the same two houses, in the romantic vernacular, but brought into the present moment with the garden taking on a more classical approach, and the colours toned to a contemporary palette.
This project came with a specific housing brief: twin weatherboard houses, each with four bedrooms, a study and a retreat occupying a single site, 15m across in width which would be subdivided into two deep lots. Due to the strict setback and frontage controls, the restricted building envelope called for a very efficient plan which would still allow for generous sized rooms, good natural lighting, ventilation and high ceilings over the living areas.
The classic exterior conceals large open spans and high ceilings in the north rear facing living areas.
WMA 