Artistic Abode

By Marina Correa

Photography: Brigid Arnott; courtesy the architects

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Marrickville House in Sydney is a happy mix of various design sensibilities that coalesce to exude a warm, vibrant and ‘lived-in’ feel. Recycled materials add character to spaces, while skylights and high windows provide natural light and ventilation and a profusion of art makes it seem very gallery-like…

In fact, it is a house, where a modest timber cottage once stood and the owner was in a quandary, whether to renovate or rebuild. After months of searching for an architect, who would share her design sensibilities, she found a match in Ar. David Boyle and decided to subdivide the block into two semi-detached homes.

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Built on a 5 meter x 33 meter site, the one-storey home also has a mezzanine level. Skylights and a deliberate construct of high windows maximize the feeling of space, natural light and ventilation besides providing an ideal backdrop to an eclectic collection of furniture and art.

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The interior journey from front to rear culminates in a gallery-like living room that opens onto an elevated deck and rear garden, where part of a green-painted corrugated steel factory wall lends the garden a striking backdrop evoking the area’s industrial past.

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Due to the house being under a flight path, mandatory acoustic controls have been put in place, which doubles up as thermal insulation. For instance, instead of large French doors, framed doors with smaller operable windows shut out the din of overhead planes and also act as a thermal buffer. The main volumes are highly insulated using cost-effective lightweight construction. Cut-out spaces and recesses with large overhangs protect the house from harsh sunlight.

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Choice of flooring materials such as recycled timber, marmoleum and coir carpet find their expression through material and colour variations, while recycled bricks and pendant lights salvaged from the old cottage add texture and nostalgia.

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In terms of sustainability principles, rainwater tanks have been installed under the rear decks and water is re-used within the house with overflow connected to a storm water retention system.

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In short, it’s a house we would be proud to own, wouldn’t you?