Designing The New For Our Time?: Terrace

zoneindesign 205
words rachael bernstone

PHOTOGRAPHY brett boardman
architect southmarc
location sydney | aus
Designing fourth bedroom on the lower ground Architecture – Multiple Housing from
the new floor, taking advantage of the develop-

ment’s elevation above street level.
The L-shaped plan means that, on
the RAIA NSW Chapter in 2008.
The jury citation said: “This is an
extremely successful example of infill
terrace the ground floor, the combined kitchen

and living space, dining room and
third bedroom all open to an internal
housing built on a reasonably tight bud-
get in a semi-industrial area of the city...
Each of the townhouses enjoys light,
for our time? courtyard. An abundance of natural

light from the north-facing courtyards
and double-height living areas helps to
privacy and usable outdoor space.”
Despite that accolade and South’s
considered approach, her proposal ran
accentuate the sense of space in what is into some initial hurdles. Although
essentially a diminutive footprint. the development complied with the
The living areas are separated from now-defunct South Sydney Council
the entry and hall by two floor-to-ceil- planning guidelines, it was rejected by
ing joinery pods – one contains kitchen councillors who responded to opposi-
A long, narrow site occupied by a cabinetry, the other linen and storage tion from the neighbours. A successful
single-storey weatherboard cottage cupboards – that provide privacy from appeal at the Land and Environment
in an inner-city suburb doesn’t im- the access way. Internal stairs from the Court enabled the project to proceed,
mediately suggest the potential for basement carpark provide direct access setting a new precedent for medium-
three new houses, but architect Nikki to each home. density living.
South of Southmarc envisaged exactly The main staircases are bathed in “We’re now working with another
that when she took on the design for 19 natural light thanks to large skylights client, who has a site nearby with three
Beaconsfield Street. in the roof, which are sawtooth shaped cottages on it, and he wants to build
The plots either side had already in units two and three. These have the courtyard houses there,” South says.
been re-developed when South dual purpose of allowing northern light “It’s great to be able to bring planners
commenced her project. To the east, to penetrate dwellings to the south and to this project to demonstrate that this
six two-bedroom townhouses are east, and reflecting the area’s semi- type of solution can really work.”
crammed along the length of the block, industrial character. The rear two units South’s experience in the re-invigo-
using the adjacent street frontage for also have sloping roofs above the living ration of this particular neighbourhood
access, while on the western side, two room voids to maximise sunlight pen- was bolstered by her Isar apartment
new terraces occupy a similar sized etration into neighbouring courtyards. project across the street. Taking its
block (approximately 10 wide x 28 Upstairs, two bedrooms overlook cues from the trend in Europe towards
metres deep). The council and neigh- the courtyard and are shielded from green roofs and the ‘Greening Sydney’
bours expected South to follow suit and western sun by external Vental blinds, movement inspired by former NSW
produce two new dwellings in place of while the ensuite and main bathroom Government Architect, Chris Johnson,
the single storey weatherboard cottage. are naturally lit by generous skylights. the four-storey L-shaped plan is sited
But she rotated her plan 90º, inserted In contrast to traditional terraces, around an internal courtyard, and
a pedestrian walkway on the eastern which are characterised by boxy rooms many of the one-, two- and three-
boundary and designed three court- connected by dingy hallways overlook- bedroom apartments boast outdoor
yard homes that offer their occupants ing cold and damp external alleys, space, either at ground level or on
plenty of amenity without impinging South’s Beaconsfield Street design uses the upper floors.
on the neighbours. courtyards and roofscape cutaways to
Each of the new homes boasts identi- great effect, bringing light and air into
cal lay-outs, although No.1 boasts a each of the houses and adjoining prop-
large picture window in the living room erties. The clever approach garnered
that overlooks the street. It also has a an Architecture Award for Residential
top left Beaconsfield Street pedestrial walkway entry top centre Natural
light is brought in with skylights top right An upstairs deck connects
interior and exterior bottom left The entry to the building is from the side
walkway Bottom centre Double height living areas give a sense of space
bottom right Bathrooms are light and airy
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At ground level and facing Bea- of colour, and there’s humour in it,” large façades, plenty of windows and
top Isar’s L-shaped building consfield Lane, a series of two-storey, South says. “There’s a meaning behind variegated cladding materials.”
is shaped around an two-bedroom ‘terraces’, with front and the colours – one-bedroom apartments Despite the market downturn, most
external courtyard rear external courtyards, mimics the are red and were aimed at singles, while of the units were sold either off-the-
bottom From the street,
housing stock of the vicinity. On the two-bedroom terraces are in a more plan or during construction. “The
Isar mimics the terrace
houses in the vicinity second and third floors, three-bedroom restrained grey, and the three-bedroom buyers responded to the design and
terrace-style apartments boast grassy garden apartments are marked with the building set a new sales record for
courtyards with potted trees, which green and are more likely to be occupied price-per-metre-square in Alexandria,
form an olive grove in the sky when by settled families who are more even during the worst residential prop-
viewed from the street. The apartments environmentally aware.” erty downturn in recent history,” South
re-purpose the terrace typology to pro- As Isar’s architect and developer, says. “That just proves that good design
vide contemporary infill accommoda- South hoped to “change the world” with implemented in a practical way works
tion which makes the most of existing this project, but learned first-hand how and sells.”
infrastructure and services, and offers a hard it can be to combine those roles.
short commute to Sydney’s CBD, East- “It’s much harder than any architect
ern beaches and local amenities. would believe,” she says. “We picked a Rachael Bernstone is a freelance writer on
Isar references the work of German bad time because the market dropped, architecture and design based in Sydney.
architects known for their use of bold so when we went to tender we had to
external hues. “The architecture and decrease the cost of the building by 10%
the use of colour and various materials by rationalising structure and finishes,
were inspired by Berlin-based archi- which was very hard. Also, it was a rela- Southmarc
tects Sauerbruch Hutton who use a lot tively expensive building because it has (61 2) 9437 1487 southmarc.com

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zoneindesign 205

words rachael bernstone

the new floor, taking advantage of the develop-

terrace the ground floor, the combined kitchen

for our time? courtyard. An abundance of natural

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