A Brisbane cottage is sustainably updated to gracefully age in place

In Brisbane’s leafy suburb of Paddington, Australian architectural observe Shaun Lockyer Architects has created a up to date and sustainable addition that delivers a putting distinction to the primary cottage it sits beside. Dubbed Sorrel Avenue, the concrete-clad extension is a deliberate counterpoint to the area vernacular whilst respecting the scale of the neighborhood. Sustainability and the client’s want for limited upkeep also knowledgeable the layout, which options inexperienced roofs, significant thermal mass, LED lights and minimal-E glass throughout.

Accomplished in 2016, Sorrel was commissioned by purchasers who required their suburban residence reworked to far better meet up with the desires of their children, a single of whom has confined mobility. As a result, the architects altered the sloping internet site to produce a flat garden that opens to the northwest aspect. The have to have for flat land also led the architects to place the present-day addition to the north of the cottage so that the main residing areas could stream out to the stage back garden.

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“The challenge explores the juxtaposition among historical context and up to date architecture within a broader subtropical paradigm,” Shaun Lockyer Architects described. “In a rather controversial selection, the connect with was manufactured to ‘leave properly adequate alone’ and make a apparent distinction between the modest, authentic cottage and the new operate, holding their respective personalities distinct.”

The renovated, predominately one-story home is centered on the kitchen and contains all the main sleeping and living parts on the upper stage, when only the garage, storage, places of work and media place are on the decrease floor. To lower electrical power use, the household is equipped with deep eaves and strategically positioned windows and skylights for cross-stream ventilation and organic lights. The insulating environmentally friendly roof and thick concrete partitions aid maintain stable indoor temperatures, though timber flooring and furnishings lend a sense of warmth all over.

+ Shaun Lockyer Architects

Pictures by Scott Burrows by using Shaun Lockyer Architects