Houzz Tours
Houzz Tour: The Reno That Put a 1970s House Ahead of the Curve
This family home in Sydney was redesigned and extended using signature smooth curves
Luigi Rosselli Architects has a thing for curves. It is a distinctive and distinguishing element of the practice’s body of work and reflects its humanist approach to architecture by softening sharp lines and corners. This house in Sydney’s Rose Bay is no exception. The architects reconfigured and extended the house, making space for four bedrooms, four bathrooms, open-plan living areas and other functional spaces, so that what was an early 1970s house is now a contemporary family home, with a modern language of curved lines, abstract forms, cantilevered canopies and oversized windows.
The house formerly had a single roof ridge (to the left) to which a second has now been added (to the right) to accommodate the addition. The angled peaks have been softened with the architect’s signature curves, and from the outside they contribute to the distinctive white masonry gables, while allowing for soaring ceilings inside.
“Under the vast canopy of the fig trees, nobody would suspect the presence of double-height halls and living rooms in this low-lying home,” says project architect Jane McNeill of Luigi Rosselli Architects. “The side elevation appears private and discreet, restrained in advertising the inner workings of a family home, despite the long exposed side frontage.”
“Under the vast canopy of the fig trees, nobody would suspect the presence of double-height halls and living rooms in this low-lying home,” says project architect Jane McNeill of Luigi Rosselli Architects. “The side elevation appears private and discreet, restrained in advertising the inner workings of a family home, despite the long exposed side frontage.”
From the street-level entrance, stairs step down to a mezzanine level that houses the study, wine cellar and cinema, and then further down to the open-plan kitchen, dining area and lounge, which open to the rear deck, garden and swimming pool.
The bedrooms are on the first floor, with the master bedroom and ensuite at the rear.
Vertical anodised aluminium battens screen the windows and doors, obstructing the gaze of onlookers and protecting the house from the hot western sun.
The aluminium shutters on the garage door make it barely discernible, and the vertical battens accentuate its rounded forms, speaking the same design language as the windows and gables above.
The aluminium shutters on the garage door make it barely discernible, and the vertical battens accentuate its rounded forms, speaking the same design language as the windows and gables above.
“An elZinc roof [installed by ARC Architectural Roofing] was the best solution for the curved profile of the dual gables, and the gutters are concealed in the roof form and discharged in hidden downpipes,” says McNeill.
elZinc roof in ‘Rainbow Barron-brown’: Craft Metals
elZinc roof in ‘Rainbow Barron-brown’: Craft Metals
The smooth curves continue inside the house, giving it a distinctive and consistent identity.
The stone benchtop in the kitchen has a rounded ‘shark nose’ edge, and the overhead cupboards with V-grooved doors have barely discernible joints.
The stone benchtop in the kitchen has a rounded ‘shark nose’ edge, and the overhead cupboards with V-grooved doors have barely discernible joints.
A flyover shelving unit suspended above the central bench has strong geometric grid lines to contrast with the curves, as does the pantry concealed behind the brass and bronze woven mesh screen produced by Di Emme Creative Solutions. The refrigerators are also in the pantry so as not to interrupt the lines of the joinery.
Like the kitchen, the adjacent dining area has lofty ceilings. “It was an intentional decision to create this vertical architecture so that it corresponds to the pre-existing pencil pines that flank the swimming pool in the garden,“ says McNeill.
The glass doors, which are four metres in height, retract into the wall to open the dining area to the outdoor deck and swimming pool. S-fold curtains are a soft division between the dining room and living room.
Glass doors: Award Architectural Aluminium; S-fold curtains: Homelife Furnishings
The glass doors, which are four metres in height, retract into the wall to open the dining area to the outdoor deck and swimming pool. S-fold curtains are a soft division between the dining room and living room.
Glass doors: Award Architectural Aluminium; S-fold curtains: Homelife Furnishings
“Architects have a tendency to fill their spaces with built-in joinery, and it was tempting to do the same here to connect the kitchen to the barbecue outside,” says McNeill, “but this credenza by Roberto Lazzeroni for Ceccotti Collezioni is a good example of the added character and wealth of textures, colours and forms that a piece of furniture can provide to enliven a space, in this case the dining room.”
Its aesthetic also suits the dining table and chairs, which have curves complementary to the kitchen joinery.
Zio dining table: Moooi; Saint Louis pendant lights: Jaime Hayon for Ceccotti Collezioni
Its aesthetic also suits the dining table and chairs, which have curves complementary to the kitchen joinery.
Zio dining table: Moooi; Saint Louis pendant lights: Jaime Hayon for Ceccotti Collezioni
The living room has an ensemble of classic, iconic and contemporary furniture pieces and accessories, creating a vibrant and character-filled space.
Rug: Robyn Cosgrove; Silenzio pendant light: Luceplan; DU55 armchairs: Gastone Rinaldi; corner sofa: Jean-Marie Massaud for Poltrona Frau; Meltdown floor lamp: Johan Lindstén; Cloud wall units: Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec for Cappellini
Rug: Robyn Cosgrove; Silenzio pendant light: Luceplan; DU55 armchairs: Gastone Rinaldi; corner sofa: Jean-Marie Massaud for Poltrona Frau; Meltdown floor lamp: Johan Lindstén; Cloud wall units: Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec for Cappellini
The living room overlooks the garden, which was designed in collaboration with Rolling Stone Landscape Design, EJM Landscapes and the client.
Curved brick walls wrap around from the front and side of the house to enclose the living room. “The recycled brick was chosen to provide a gritty and robust texture to the base of the building and contrast with the crisp whiteness of the top gables,” says McNeill.
Recycled bricks: Cheap as Bricks
Curved brick walls wrap around from the front and side of the house to enclose the living room. “The recycled brick was chosen to provide a gritty and robust texture to the base of the building and contrast with the crisp whiteness of the top gables,” says McNeill.
Recycled bricks: Cheap as Bricks
The outdoor area has a covered outdoor deck and a swimming pool surrounded by pencil pines and Port Jackson figs. The previous property owner planted a row of pencil pines at the end of the garden, which the architects convinced the client to retain.
“Pencil pines and Port Jackson figs coexist as successfully as the 1970s and contemporary architectural styles do,” says McNeill.
“Pencil pines and Port Jackson figs coexist as successfully as the 1970s and contemporary architectural styles do,” says McNeill.
A motorised pergola shades the outdoor dining area, and its blades cast shadows on the recycled brick facade.
Back inside, a desk provides a handy home office space at the base of the stairs, and the walls have texture and luminescence. “Instead of painting over the gypsum plaster, we gently (and without excessive buffing) applied a clear Porter’s Paints beeswax. The resulting finish has a beautiful lustre and a smooth waxy texture that is a pleasure to run your fingers over,” says McNeill.
Ginger Armchair: Roberto Lazzeroni for Poltrona Frau
Ginger Armchair: Roberto Lazzeroni for Poltrona Frau
The stairs form the main spine of the home. From the home office, they ascend to the mezzanine level (visible halfway up the stairs) containing the study and cinema. They then continue up to the entrance level (visible at the top of the stairs), and up one level further to the bedrooms.
“The stair appears to have been designed with the express purpose of reaching the upper shelves of this Frank Lloyd Wright-inspired Albero bookcase designed by Gianfranco Frattini,” says McNeill.
The bookcase occupies a spot where one day a lift could be inserted if needed.
“The stair appears to have been designed with the express purpose of reaching the upper shelves of this Frank Lloyd Wright-inspired Albero bookcase designed by Gianfranco Frattini,” says McNeill.
The bookcase occupies a spot where one day a lift could be inserted if needed.
Another woven brass and bronze screen partitions the bedroom level from the front door, and a skylight draws in the sun’s rays.
Meltdown chandelier: Johan Lindstén for Cappellini
Meltdown chandelier: Johan Lindstén for Cappellini
The master bedroom takes advantage of the new softly peaked roof, providing a soaring cathedral ceiling lined with whitewashed timber boards.
Mamy armchair: Roberto Lazzeroni for Poltrona Frau
Mamy armchair: Roberto Lazzeroni for Poltrona Frau
The client selected green onyx for the bathroom, creating a textural bathroom vanity splashback.
Green onyx splashback: WK Stone
Green onyx splashback: WK Stone
From the outside, the vertical battens continue around the rear of the house where the master bedroom (right) opens to a terrace, and the ensuite (left) looks out to a roof garden.
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Danish Houzz Tour: A Clever DIYer Transforms Her Family Home
Tell us
What do you love about this home? Tell us in the Comments below. And don’t forget to save your favourite images, like the story, and join in the conversation.
More
Danish Houzz Tour: A Clever DIYer Transforms Her Family Home
Who lives here: A family of five: a real estate professional and an interior designer, and their three teenage children.
Location: Rose Bay, Sydney, NSW
Size: 697 square metres; 4 bedrooms, 4 bathrooms
Design architect: Luigi Rosselli Architects
Interior designer: Marianna Atlas
Builder: Grid Projects
The original house, built in the early ’70s, was in need of modernisation and rationalisation. With three teenage children, the owners wanted to create a comfortable and stylish family home that could meet the changing needs of their family.