Downie North Architects' carefully curated views help Neutral Bay House to feel brighter, connect to the garden and defy its tightly confined urban site…
An unaltered and blinkered 1920s semi-detached house with no relationship to its site is reworked to accommodate the needs of a young family to enjoy sunlight, embrace its small garden, and carefully curate and frame its outlook to achieve a space that extends beyond its confined urban site.
A light shelf, which bounces daylight deep into the room, was designed to keep the sun skirting outside the building in summer but also allow deep solar penetration in winter. It doubles as a curtin pelmet!
Above the light shelf, operable windows capture prevailing ocean breezes and cross ventilate the space, while flushing out excess heat.
Exposed brick gives the living area and robust, yet warm feel and, along with the careful placement of windows and ventilation, helps to moderate the internal temperature passively.
