Petersham Courtyard House by Adriano Pupilli Architects focuses a modest budget on re-building the back-of-house to draw in green vistas, sunlight and cooling breezes into everyday living spaces so they can be enjoyed day and night and across the seasons...
A narrow urban lot sandwiched in the middle of a row of terrace houses in Sydney’s inner west. The clients, two retired high-school teachers with a passion for theatre, travel, cats and their tiny but peaceful rear garden and jacaranda tree.
The project focuses a modest budget on re-building the back-of-house to draw in green vistas, sunlight and cooling breezes into everyday living spaces so they can be enjoyed day and night and across the seasons.
A void is created in lieu of the laundry, overall decreasing the floor space while improving the homes amenity and sense of light and space. Funnelling winter sunlight and sight lines to nearby tree canopies deep within the kitchen and living room. A green urban retreat, an escape from the surrounding concrete landscape, a place to linger, gather and tell lies.
Key design moves include re-building an existing lean-to to create a light-filled pavilion with floating skillion roof and highlight windows positioned to capture the north sun and expel excess summer heat. To the east the pavilion opens seamlessly onto a new deck and the existing garden via sliding glass doors, drawing the garden inside. A new internal courtyard forms a light-well and link between Federation and new architectures.
This link space also accommodates a downstairs bathroom, its low roof permits sunlight to pass over, providing direct sunlight to the court, renovated kitchen and new living pavilion. A new breakfast bench doubles as a window sill, extending the kitchen visually into the existing side courtyard. The original stairs were retained and a more compact laundry installed beneath.
Clever built in joinery aligns to a new circulation spine that runs through the house, establishing a clear logic for spatial organisation, as well as offering alluring garden vistas from all corners of the house.
