19 Waterloo Street

This is intended as a case study project – small footprint, restrained budget. How much could we achieve with as little as possible. Bricks are recycled from another project and given the limited extent of building, not much costs not much! A restriction in the extent of building allowed us to make specific and generous decisions around artists commissions and prototype features.

The project is an exercise in limiting footprint but expanding connections. Spatially the interior volumes are arranged to borrow outlook from the city. You are at once in the city and part of its fabric, but removed from it - still afforded a quiet and private oasis. This is a small house freed of the ‘little house’ typology. Using a split section, the stair is the pinwheel around which the house moves.

The project is at its core a reuse project. Taking an under-utilised inner-city plot, well connected to services, and intensifying its uses. The project followed Passivhaus principles but amended them to better suit the Sydney context e.g. the house employed the internal insulation lining promoted by Passivhaus, conducted a blower test, and incorporates an internal air handing unit, and chose to make the dwelling as openable as possible - encouraging cross ventilation. The house is double glazed and doesn't employ air conditioning, rather the design uses passive design principles of facade depth and orientation to ensure sun protection and sun penetration.

"With a site area of 90 sqm our new house is accommodated on just 30 sqm and has a total internal area of 69 sqm. We have reintroduced deep soil planting and ensured that the roof is either planted or used for solar gain. Using a split section, the stair is the pinwheel around which the house moves. More like a tree house than a real house, the dwelling is divided into spaces that are served or in service. The service spaces are short with 2.1m ceilings – storage, kitchen, robe and ensuite, while the served spaces are grand with 3.6m ceilings – study, living and bedroom. With a maximum depth of 3.3 meters, light and ventilation are at your fingertips, always connecting you to the energy of the day while lending the house a strong sense of urbanity – you are living in the city. In terms of design decisions on the project materials for interior finishes prioritised the use of architectural waste products, such as the bricks on the façade, timber flooring and stone finishes. These materials were supplied at lower cost than had they been manufactured new."