Terrace House

Alteration & Addition w/ Brandon Yip

St Peters, NSW

Heritage & Passive Design

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The project reconfigures the notoriously narrow and tight typology of the terrace house, with the primary goal of providing better liveability and spatial organisation, lighting, sustainability and thermal qualities. This alterations and additions to a double-storey terrace house on a corner site in St Peters maintains the bulk of the existing external envelope and items of heritage significance and reconfigures the internal layouts and floor heights in order to facilitate an additional attic space, a bedroom, living spaces and bathrooms with better solar access and spatial organisation.

An open plan living, kitchen and dining space are connected to a central courtyard which can be used independently of or as an extension to living and dining spaces. The design replaces a gloomy service wing and creates a direct connection between living and studio spaces, enclosing the outdoor courtyard and integrating exterior and interior spaces. Vegetation is also well integrated into circulation and living spaces.

Short Sections

Streetscape Elevation

The site is located within the Goodsell Estate Heritage Conservation Area and enhances the core values of the HCA:

The bulk and mass of the development is appropriate to the laneway, does not impact existing views, and reinforces terrace character
Materials evidence the sites former use as a brick pit
Timber louvres allow visual connection between residence and public street
Front/main bulk is to be retained & reinstated where damage is visible
Connections between the street and internal communal areas are enhanced for increased neighbourhood surveillance and opportunities for social interaction

Passive Design & Water Efficient Landscaping Principles

The project enhances ecological sustainability through the integration of passive thermal design, local biodiversity, stormwater infiltration, solar hot water, on-site rainwater storage, greywater re-use, recycling & waste reduction:

An open courtyard and butterfly roof on the extension allows improved natural lighting conditions and ventilation, optimized for passive solar heating and cooling, reducing energy consumption
Thermal mass floors retain heat in winter
Main living areas open to the north
use of sustainable materials (timber and recycled brick)
Solar hot water installed on the roof of the addition
Collecting and reusing rainwater
Maximizing the capture of rainfall for rainwater re-use in gardens, laundry, and toilets, as well as to prevent runoff from flowing into Council drains
Stormwater infiltration through porous landscape elements