Sitting on a sunny corner block in Kensington, True North is the new home for an architect and family. So how does an architect deal with a challenging triangular site? With sinuous curves, of course!
![True North True North](https://media.lunchboxarchitect.com/fit-in/540x540/featured/true-north-tandem-design-studio/true-north-tandem-design-studio-ca47d00e.jpg)
Where a triangular plan would have created difficult angles at the corners, the curved form rounds off the corners to hug the spaces, while still loosely following the site's geometry.
![True North True North](https://media.lunchboxarchitect.com/fit-in/540x540/featured/true-north-tandem-design-studio/true-north-tandem-design-studio-2d6f1061.jpg)
"The form dips away from the northern boundary, making a sunlit garden. At the rear, the house was bent northwards away from the southern neighbour, improving sunlight penetration to their backyard. A dimple was introduced between dining and sunken lounge along the front, eastern facade, indicating the front door."
![True North True North](https://media.lunchboxarchitect.com/fit-in/540x540/featured/true-north-tandem-design-studio/true-north-tandem-design-studio-16bd96a4.jpg)
The folded steel facade was custom formed to create a seamless cladding for the curved home. "The continuous curved profile loops around the curving form, meeting at a single overlapped vertical seam indicating the front door. Over the back door, the facade splits and rejoins to create a porch... Rusted metallic hoods penetrate the folded facade to create window openings, enhance privacy and shade upper-level rooms."
![True North True North](https://media.lunchboxarchitect.com/fit-in/540x540/featured/true-north-tandem-design-studio/true-north-tandem-design-studio-93778d22.jpg)
The site has two dwellings. One at the rear used to be stables built around in the 1880s. The stables have been renovated into a one-bedroom townhouse, while this new three bedroom house replaces a 1950s cottage in poor condition. Recylced bricks used in the project come fromt he demolished cottage, maintaining a sense of history on the site.
![True North True North](https://media.lunchboxarchitect.com/fit-in/540x540/featured/true-north-tandem-design-studio/true-north-tandem-design-studio-03f6c754.jpg)
![True North True North](https://media.lunchboxarchitect.com/fit-in/540x540/featured/true-north-tandem-design-studio/true-north-tandem-design-studio-3137e811.jpg)
On the ground floor of this new sinuous beauty is a sunken lounge, kitchen, dining and a double-height atrium. The ground floor is a one-room space, where the curved corners create intimate nooks within the larger space.
![True North True North](https://media.lunchboxarchitect.com/fit-in/540x540/featured/true-north-tandem-design-studio/true-north-tandem-design-studio-6541aac2.jpg)
![True North True North](https://media.lunchboxarchitect.com/fit-in/540x540/featured/true-north-tandem-design-studio/true-north-tandem-design-studio-015d28db.jpg)
![True North True North](https://media.lunchboxarchitect.com/fit-in/540x540/featured/true-north-tandem-design-studio/true-north-tandem-design-studio-b24676d3.jpg)
![True North True North](https://media.lunchboxarchitect.com/fit-in/540x540/featured/true-north-tandem-design-studio/true-north-tandem-design-studio-614a8d60.jpg)
Upstairs the home feels like a treehouse, with green carpet and timber walls. Three pods hover above the atrium, connected by the stair and a bridge. These pods contain bedrooms and bathrooms.
![True North True North](https://media.lunchboxarchitect.com/fit-in/540x540/featured/true-north-tandem-design-studio/true-north-tandem-design-studio-e88823a0.jpg)
![True North True North](https://media.lunchboxarchitect.com/fit-in/540x540/featured/true-north-tandem-design-studio/true-north-tandem-design-studio-9722afd7.jpg)
Sustainability was an important consideration for Tandem. "The form and openings were developed and tested through computer modelling and assessment to control sunlight penetration; to allow sunlight in to passively warm the slab in winter and exclude it in summer. A rating of 7.3 stars was achieved." Even the folded facade itself acts as an extra layer of insulation for the home. While this wasn't tested, it acts like a puffer jacket, trapping still air in its folds to protect the home. In summer the atrium can open up at low and high level for a night purge, flushing the heat from the day and cooling down the insulated slab and bricks.
![True North True North](https://media.lunchboxarchitect.com/fit-in/540x540/featured/true-north-tandem-design-studio/true-north-tandem-design-studio-19590605.jpg)
![True North True North](https://media.lunchboxarchitect.com/fit-in/540x540/featured/true-north-tandem-design-studio/true-north-tandem-design-studio-1b9c4853.jpg)
![True North True North](https://media.lunchboxarchitect.com/fit-in/540x540/featured/true-north-tandem-design-studio/true-north-tandem-design-studio-6619e7ef.jpg)
Depending on who you are, or how you're feeling, the house can take on many forms, "the curving façade along Eastwood interprets a neighbouring bay window. The pleated façade whirls and billows, like a dress. The portholes remind me of industry, the hoods a fort. The low brick walls connect to Kensington’s masonry heritage. Being inside is like looking out through a water drop, or hiding inside a musical instrument."
![True North True North](https://media.lunchboxarchitect.com/fit-in/540x540/featured/true-north-tandem-design-studio/true-north-tandem-design-studio-08343d87.jpg)