亨维尔街住宅丨Philip Stejskal Architecture

Architects:Philip Stejskal Architecture

Year:2021

Photographs:Jack Lovel

Text description provided by the architects. Closely hemmed in by four neighbours and with a narrow street frontage, this new home for a young family on a sub-divided block makes the most of its patchwork setting. The local character is highly variable with a range of materials and styles, and single- and double-storey homes that accommodate families from diverse backgrounds.

This design responds to and respects these existing conditions, while taking advantage of borrowed views to the north, and mediating for privacy. The resulting two-storey home occupies a compact footprint of just 106m2 plus a carport on a 300m2 block, with a careful arrangement of horizontal and vertical spaces that transcends the site's many constraints.

Conforming to a four-bay grid, the home opens to a generous north-facing garden. The efficient entry bay collates the main services – staircase, laundry, powder room, and storage – while the remaining bays form an L-shape around a double-height outdoor courtyard, which can be protected by retractable overhead blinds. Taking advantage of a minor level change across the site, the downstairs spaces cut into the slope to create a sunken living area with generous ceiling heights. This creates a functional inhabited edge between inside and outside.

Upstairs, the private zone comprises three bedrooms and two bathrooms, and a semi-private roof terrace with district views. The second bedroom has large sliding doors to the corridor and roof terrace, for increased flexibility as the young boys grow older. The house is loosely wrapped in trellis and mesh that will eventually be covered in greenery, creating distinct landscaping zones from the immediate foreground to distant views towards mature trees, adding to the sense of expansion and spaciousness.

The project benefited from expert contributions by various allied disciplines, including structural engineers, lighting consultants, and a landscape architect. Materials and proportions are deliberately durable and robust, taking their cues from the language of Fremantle Port. Corrugated iron abuts timber cladding in the "carved-out" outdoor room, while galvanised steel framing and mesh fencing lend an industrial character to the varied texture of the neighbourhood.

For a relatively modest cost, the clients have achieved a highly functional and flexible home that can easily evolve to meet their family's changing needs over time. The ground-floor multipurpose room has sliding doors and curtains, creating varying degrees of separation, depending on its use. Thanks to its small footprint, passive solar principles – including ample shading, thermal mass, and cross-ventilation – the home performs well throughout all seasons, and will enjoy low operational costs and minimal ongoing maintenance in the future.

The rigorous orthogonal grid generates a logical and rational response, which is softened and warmed by the judicious placement of timber detailing outside and bespoke joinery inside. Soft drapes flutter in the breeze and imbue the spaces with warmth and character. From the outside, the design reflects the utilitarian nature of the port and local surroundings – capturing the workaday nature of Fremantle – while the overlay of rich materiality internally ensures it works well as a comfortable and inviting family home.

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