Experiment in the craft of space and materials

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How to fit a two-bedroom, two-bathroom house plus garden on a tiny site

How to fit a two-bedroom, two-bathroom house plus architecture, building, elevation, facade, home, house, property, real estate, residential area, siding, black — How to fit a two-bedroom, two-bathroom house plus garden on a tiny site

The owners required a small footprint new single architecture, building, elevation, facade, home, house, property, real estate, residential area, siding, black

The challenge was fitting a two bedroom, two architecture, backyard, courtyard, deck, estate, facade, home, house, interior design, outdoor structure, property, real estate, residential area, roof, siding, wood, yard, brown

Acid etched concrete, filigree steel screens, an inside/outside architecture, interior design, living room, real estate, white, black

Experiment in the craft of space and material architecture, house, interior design, real estate, gray

A bespoke miniature modern home was achieved at bed frame, bedroom, ceiling, estate, floor, interior design, property, real estate, room, suite, wall, wood, gray, brown

External bathroom - Experiment in the craft of architecture, home, house, interior design, property, real estate, siding, gray

A glass tread on the stairs reveals water floor, flooring, handrail, hardwood, plywood, stairs, wood, wood flooring, wood stain, orange

Inside/outside water feature - Experiment in the craft facade, house, lumber, siding, wall, window, wood, wood stain, red, orange

Designed by ITN Architects

From the architect:

The owners required a small footprint new single residence at the rear of their existing weatherboard house in Collingwood – plus they wanted to build the house themselves.

The design needed to respond to the owners’ love of timber craft and their interest in site ley lines.

The challenge was fitting a two bedroom, two bathroom 120sqm house plus garden, deck and garage on a 110sqm. Deferring to ancient wisdoms the stair was sited first and the house set in place around it.

The tiny site forced the house to meet three boundaries, requiring the composed timber volumes to play in the public realm as the continuation of a weatherboard conversation along Charlotte Street.

The bluestone lane at the rear of the host property has been repurposed to work as a chic character-filled entryway experience.

A re-patterning of this residential block consolidates the dense character of Collingwood and it’s meteoric increase in population and the associated lifestyle attractors.

The house’s palette required the full range of trades, each of which were pushed to perform craft level contributions by the owner builder. Acid etched concrete, filigree steel screens, an inside/outside water feature, cantilevered staircases, glazed floors, external bathroom relief timber walls and end grain timber paving are examples of each disciplines well harnessed.

A bespoke miniature modern home was achieved at similar square metre cost rates to larger traditional residence builds. The value is also measured in the owners’ pride and the local community appreciation for the project.

This house reaches beyond the regular ESD authority compliance measures.

An evacuated tube hot water appliance reads as a crown beyond the modern fascia line. Site harvested water is reticulated for toilets and the omnipresent water feature is fed from a tank that has been rendered invisible within slatted timber bench seating.

Further passive measures include running water cooling, solar window surrounds, thorough cross ventilation and vertical convection paths. Consideration has been given to selection of timber hardwood species.

The project is an owner-architect collaborative experiment in the craft of space and material, evident in the lines on paper and in the timber grain against the sky.