Cove Residence

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Project Residential

Cove Residence is a study of layers – material layers, liminal layers and site layers. It is about discovering and defining the new life of a house with many histories..

Project.

Cove Residence

Services:

Architecture and Interiors

Client.

Private

Location:

Rozelle, sydney

Completed.

2024

Photography.

TBC

Cove Residence is a study of layers – material layers, liminal layers and site layers. It is about discovering and defining the new life of a house with many histories..

Tasked with reimagining the existing dwelling and bringing about a contemporary family home that could accommodate several generations and our clients’ love of art, we examined the existing building at its most fundamental level. Spatial relationships, outlooks, light, aspect, and the landscape were all carefully contemplated within the context of the strict heritage and planning controls constraining the site.

Our measured design process resulted in an approach that involves framing the external and internal views from each room, thereby dissolving the traditional floor plan limitations with both minimal demolition and minimal new floor area.

A whimsical neon sign punctuates the moody sandstone and plastered walls of the shower room, accessed via a hidden pivot door beneath the open stair.Views and access to the outdoor dining area are expanded and renewed with multipane steel framed doors and windows.

The first floor sitting area is a natural termination point for the open-riser cantilevering timber stair, as it embraces the trees of the rear garden and nearby park while shielding the internal spaces from neighbouring properties. Adjacent to the stair landing and glass walkway is the extensive art book collection of our clients, accompanied by a bespoke leather upholstered bench, and a beloved artwork by Idris Murphy.

At the centre of the house, flanked by the refurbished glass walkway, skylight shafts and fine-edged balustrading is AES, an in-situ artwork by Marcus Piper. Produced in collaboration with Axolotl, the builder Stuart Wilson Constructions and Pittwater Joinery, AES occupies the double-height wall of the stair void as both artefact and expression of movement, time, and light.

Previously dogged by a rotting structure and limited connection to the rest of the house and garden, the eastern wing has been completely reimagined as an airy, foliage surrounded study with extensive glazing. It now opens out to the northern deck shared with the pool area, and to a series of stepped timber platforms that provide access to the south facing sculpture garden and outdoor chess board.

With this portion of the sandstone wall made permanently interior by the study wing, the internal space has been converted to a cosy family lounge room. A defunct window is converted into a glazed sculpture shelf, while a new double sided fireplace has been inserted into the sandstone wall shared with the open plan dining space.

Brought together with an industrial language of black steel, metal patinas, restored Sydney sandstone and timber elements, the Maranatha House sits resolutely in its context, surrounded by an enlivened garden replete with native plants that integrate with the existing trees and landscape features. These first steps to fostering a connection to country, in concert with the retention of the 19th and 20th century built heritage and a clear acknowledgement of its locality, are the most important in this dwelling’s search for a unified and meaningful experience of place.

Cove Residence

Cove Residence

STUDIO SABAT

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