A Dark and Cramped Heritage Home Gets a Luxe Coastal Makeover
A new upper level, lashings of light and a sophisticated coastal palette transformed this heritage home
Georgia Madden
9 August 2019
In this Q&A series, we turn the spotlight on one thought-provoking renovation or extension each week. Here, building designer Eyal Snehor at Novam Design Studio and interior designer Naomi Nimmo at Nimmo Nielsen Collective reveal how they took a dark, damp and poky two-bedroom, one-bathroom heritage cottage and transformed it into a light-filled, modern family home with four bedrooms and three bathrooms.
Images by Dean Richter at Off the Richter Creative
Answers by building designer Eyal Snehor at Novam Design Studio (responsible for the building design) and interior designer Naomi Nimmo at Nimmo Nielsen Collective (responsible for the interior design, joinery and finishes selection)
Who lives here: A couple with two young children
Location: Fairlight, NSW
Original size: 85 square metres
Size after works: 155 square metres
Building designer: Eyal Snehor at Novam Design Studio
Interior designer: Naomi Nimmo at Nimmo Nielsen Collective
Builder: TMA Constructions
Answers by building designer Eyal Snehor at Novam Design Studio (responsible for the building design) and interior designer Naomi Nimmo at Nimmo Nielsen Collective (responsible for the interior design, joinery and finishes selection)
Who lives here: A couple with two young children
Location: Fairlight, NSW
Original size: 85 square metres
Size after works: 155 square metres
Building designer: Eyal Snehor at Novam Design Studio
Interior designer: Naomi Nimmo at Nimmo Nielsen Collective
Builder: TMA Constructions
Gained
- A new upper level housing a parents’ retreat, ensuite, wardrobe, balcony, plus two children’s bedrooms and a bathroom.
- A guest bedroom.
- A guest bathroom.
- A laundry.
- An external deck to the ground floor.
- Natural light.
- A paved car parking area.
- A contemporary, coastal-inspired colour palette.
What was the house like originally?
Snehor: A single-storey, double-brick semi built around 1915 with two bedrooms and one bathroom. All the interior spaces were very dark.
Find a building designer on Houzz to help you create your ideal home
Snehor: A single-storey, double-brick semi built around 1915 with two bedrooms and one bathroom. All the interior spaces were very dark.
Find a building designer on Houzz to help you create your ideal home
What was the budget?
Snehor: Around $600,000.
Where did most of the budget go?
Snehor: On the new upper-level addition and the high-quality bathroom fittings, including tiles and tapware.
Snehor: Around $600,000.
Where did most of the budget go?
Snehor: On the new upper-level addition and the high-quality bathroom fittings, including tiles and tapware.
What problems or limitations did this project address?
Snehor: The original rooms were small and dark due to the orientation of the house and overshadowing by the next-door dwelling.
Snehor: The original rooms were small and dark due to the orientation of the house and overshadowing by the next-door dwelling.
The original floor plan
What was your brief for the colours and finishes?
Nimmo:
What was your brief for the colours and finishes?
Nimmo:
- A timeless look with a contemporary touch.
- A bright colour scheme, as the semi lacked natural light.
- Accents of blue and green that would nod to the home’s coastal location.
- To create spaces that connected old with new.
Proposed ground-floor plan
What were the client’s must-haves?
Snehor:
What were the client’s must-haves?
Snehor:
- Keep the original character of the house.
- Add two more bedrooms.
- Include a separate laundry (the original laundry was inside the bathroom).
- Bring in plenty of light.
- Include a car space.
Proposed first-floor plan
How would you describe the new addition?
Snehor: The new addition retains the character of the original house as viewed from the street, while introducing a modern coastal feel to the home from the rear with a new ground-floor deck and upper level.
How would you describe the new addition?
Snehor: The new addition retains the character of the original house as viewed from the street, while introducing a modern coastal feel to the home from the rear with a new ground-floor deck and upper level.
What exactly did you do?
Snehor: We kept the front section of the original dwelling and reconfigured it to accommodate a guest room, bathroom and separate laundry. We demolished the rear interior of the house and opened it up to create open-plan living with a smooth flow to the new deck and rear garden.
We added a new first-floor addition with private spaces (a parent’s retreat and ensuite, two kids’ bedrooms and a kids’ bathroom). We added a large void to the top of the new staircase to draw light into the space below.
The new addition has higher-than-average ceilings, which provide a sense of grandeur and maximise natural light.
Snehor: We kept the front section of the original dwelling and reconfigured it to accommodate a guest room, bathroom and separate laundry. We demolished the rear interior of the house and opened it up to create open-plan living with a smooth flow to the new deck and rear garden.
We added a new first-floor addition with private spaces (a parent’s retreat and ensuite, two kids’ bedrooms and a kids’ bathroom). We added a large void to the top of the new staircase to draw light into the space below.
The new addition has higher-than-average ceilings, which provide a sense of grandeur and maximise natural light.
How does the new addition sit beside the original home?
Snehor: The old and new parts of the house blend seamlessly, so the new addition doesn’t look like an add-on.
Snehor: The old and new parts of the house blend seamlessly, so the new addition doesn’t look like an add-on.
What challenges did you have to work around?
Snehor: The original house was suffering from rising damp, and being a very dark dwelling didn’t help. To eliminate the problem, we instigated a new system at the outset of the project to improve the flow of air and water beneath the new house.
As the house was located on a small cul-de-sac, keeping the site clean and quiet for the neighbours was another challenge – and something the builder took great care to do well.
Snehor: The original house was suffering from rising damp, and being a very dark dwelling didn’t help. To eliminate the problem, we instigated a new system at the outset of the project to improve the flow of air and water beneath the new house.
As the house was located on a small cul-de-sac, keeping the site clean and quiet for the neighbours was another challenge – and something the builder took great care to do well.
Storage bench in the ground-floor hallway
Tell us about the beautiful built-in joinery
Nimmo: Nimmo Nielsen Collective designed all the joinery, including the kitchen, laundry, bench seat in the hallway, vanities, wardrobe and dressing table. The work was completed by Kitchenworks Belrose and MS Interiors.
Tell us about the beautiful built-in joinery
Nimmo: Nimmo Nielsen Collective designed all the joinery, including the kitchen, laundry, bench seat in the hallway, vanities, wardrobe and dressing table. The work was completed by Kitchenworks Belrose and MS Interiors.
Storage bench in the ground-floor hallway
The new first-floor parents’ retreat
Why did you choose this particular colour scheme?
Nimmo: It conveyed the relaxed and contemporary coastal feel we were looking to create.
Why did you choose this particular colour scheme?
Nimmo: It conveyed the relaxed and contemporary coastal feel we were looking to create.
The new first-floor parents’ retreat
Why do you think the project works so well?
Snehor: While it is a small semi, it looks and feels large and light-filled.
Why do you think the project works so well?
Snehor: While it is a small semi, it looks and feels large and light-filled.
The new first-floor parents’ retreat
What are the key features of this project?
Snehor:
What are the key features of this project?
Snehor:
- Large openings (windows and sliding doors) to maximise light on the ground floor and new upper level.
- A large floating pergola over the new timber deck.
- High ceilings.
- Raked ceilings to the master bedroom and upstairs gallery.
- Thoughtful transitions between old and new.
Guest bathroom on the ground floor
Interior materials palette
Interior materials palette
- Caesarstone Statuario Maximus to the kitchen benchtop.
- Polyurethane Shaker-style panels painted in Dulux Lexicon Quarter to the kitchen cabinetry.
- Smartstone Nieve White to the vanity benchtops.
- Warringah Timbers 130-millimetre solid blackbutt flooring.
- Surface Gallery Grey Cementa 300 x 600-millimetre tiles to the bathroom and laundry floors.
- Surface Gallery herringbone tiles in Spearmint Grey to the feature wall in the guest bathroom.
- Prestige Carpets Sherpa Doma carpet to the bedrooms.
- V-groove panelling by the builder.
Guest bathroom on the ground floor
External materials palette
Paint colours
External materials palette
- Scyon Walls Linea cladding.
- Monier Roofing Horizon concrete roof tiles.
- Nicco Joinery and Airlite windows.
Paint colours
- Dulux Lexicon Quarter to the internal walls.
- Dulux Domino to the upper level.
- Taubmans Scarborough Fair to the feature wall in the master bedroom.
- Dulux Domino to the upper-level external cladding.
- Dulux Guild Grey to the front fence.
Fixtures
- Reece Abey Tink matt black kitchen mixer.
- Emac & Lawton Conrad pendant lights.
- Reece Axa Hox wall-mounted basin to guest bathroom.
- Reece Phoenix Vivid Slimline matt-black basin mixer to guest bathroom.
- Reece Mizu Drift Twin Waterrail shower to guest bathroom.
Upstairs gallery
Your turn
Has this clever redesign given you some ideas for your own renovation? Tell us in the Comments, like this story, save the images and join the conversation.
More
Want more ideas for your own renovation? Don’t miss this Project of the Week – From Shabby to Chic: An Unbelievable Makeover of a ’90s Extension
Your turn
Has this clever redesign given you some ideas for your own renovation? Tell us in the Comments, like this story, save the images and join the conversation.
More
Want more ideas for your own renovation? Don’t miss this Project of the Week – From Shabby to Chic: An Unbelievable Makeover of a ’90s Extension
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A few more pics here:
https://www.houzz.com.au/hznb/projects/house-6-fairlight-pj-vj~2597397
Thank you. Fab decks, view of the sea too. Great transformation!
This is great. I would love to know the dimensions of the living and kitchen area.