A new first-floor addition that is almost completely obscured from the street view by mature foliage has converted this one-bedroom cottage into a three-bedroom family home.
Project Name: Pattern Cottage
Studio Name: Kitty Lee Architecture
Project size: 113 m2
Site size: 166 m2
Project Budget: $400000
Completion date: 2019
Building levels: 2
Location: Sydney, Australia
Photography: The Palm Co.
Though compact in size, the design of this house is both practical and fun. The patterns and prints of the selected interior materials and finishes have injected lots of personality into this cottage. The house is full of life and colour and perfectly suits the young family who lives here.
Previously entered from the side passage, the original front entry has been reinstated and a new hallway created to separate the front bedroom from the main living area. The original living room transitions to a new open plan family space, defined by the change in floor finish from timber to terrazzo. The new room is grounded by a dramatic 4m long hardwood island bench. The bench is the heart of the house, crafted from a tree that was demolished from a local golf course, and functions as both the kitchen workbench and dining table.
The size of this house was constrained by the location of the existing sewer vent pipe in the backyard. Restricted by Sydney Water’s stringent guidelines for building adjacent to their assets, there was little change to the existing building footprint except for the addition of a new covered deck that has become a natural extension of the living room. The first floor area is also limited by these restrictions but the addition was able to fit in two new bedrooms and the main bathroom.