Four new four-bedroom terrace houses stand on the site of a former chocolate factory in Zetland, an the inner-south suburb of Sydney. The original industrial heartland is undergoing transformation into the new Green Square Town Centre.
Project Name: Portman Street Terraces
Studio Name: CO-AP
Location: Sydney, Australia
Photography: Ross Honeysett
Completion date: 2018
Building levels: 3
Situated at the edge of this new urban renewal, Portman Street Terraces respond to the Victorian Terrace typology of its neighbours in form while referencing the site’s industrial provenance in materiality. Pre-cast concrete has been used for efficiency. Its raw finish has been retained as a nod to the former warehouse buildings of the area. On the street facade steel plate window hoods provide shading and privacy from future developments across the street. Small juliet balconies reference the two-storey terraces along Portman Street.
Internally, large format oak parquetry offsets the raw concrete walls and terrazzo kitchen surrounds. Terrazzo and terracotta finished bathrooms on the upper two storeys enjoy daylight borrowed from a skylit internal void which illuminates the staircase, corridors and ground floor kitchen.
Simply fitted-out, self-contained studios sit above garages with access from the rear lane. This boutique development presents a model of “Missing Middle” housing for well designed in-fill development in the inner city.
