Sydney Houzz: A Topsy-Turvy House With a Secret
When you can't look out, you look in! Such was the design solution for this unusually long Sydney terrace with no views
Georgia Madden
13 July 2022
In ZZ Top House, a renovated double-fronted terrace in Sydney, NSW, it’s hard to tell if you’re inside or out. Designed by Clinton Cole and Carmen Chan at CplusC Architectural Workshop, the topsy-turvy design deliberately confounds perspective by bringing in the outdoors. Natural light pours into the sky-high living spaces through zigzagging louvres and skylights, to create a captivating inside world where the home’s beautiful details become the view.
Its owners, a couple with three children, one still living at home, appreciate natural and exposed materials such as timber and raw concrete and wanted a home that catered to specific activities. Read on to discover what the architects did.
Its owners, a couple with three children, one still living at home, appreciate natural and exposed materials such as timber and raw concrete and wanted a home that catered to specific activities. Read on to discover what the architects did.
‘After’ images by Murray Fredericks and Michael Lassman.
House at a Glance
Who lives here: A couple with three children, one still living at home
Location: McMahons Point, NSW
Number of bedrooms and bathrooms: Four bedrooms and 2.5 bathrooms
Size of the house: 315 square metres
Budget: Around AU$2 million
Architecture and interior design: Principal architect Clinton Cole and project architect Carmen Chan at CplusC Architectural Workshop
Landscape architect: Bell Landscapes
Structural engineer: Partridge
Plumbing: JH Gordon Plumbing
Electricals: D2E Electrical
Doors and windows: Windoor
Joinery: SKC Technical and Wood Works
Painting: Orange Painting
Brickwork: Brazil Construction
Glazing: Balmain Glass
Structural steel: Tenze Engineering
Roofing: Flash Metal Roofing
Setting and plaster works: Mick Williams Plastering
House at a Glance
Who lives here: A couple with three children, one still living at home
Location: McMahons Point, NSW
Number of bedrooms and bathrooms: Four bedrooms and 2.5 bathrooms
Size of the house: 315 square metres
Budget: Around AU$2 million
Architecture and interior design: Principal architect Clinton Cole and project architect Carmen Chan at CplusC Architectural Workshop
Landscape architect: Bell Landscapes
Structural engineer: Partridge
Plumbing: JH Gordon Plumbing
Electricals: D2E Electrical
Doors and windows: Windoor
Joinery: SKC Technical and Wood Works
Painting: Orange Painting
Brickwork: Brazil Construction
Glazing: Balmain Glass
Structural steel: Tenze Engineering
Roofing: Flash Metal Roofing
Setting and plaster works: Mick Williams Plastering
How do you create visual interest in an unusually long and inward-looking house with zero outlook, flanked on both sides by a pair of warehouses? That was the challenge the architects faced when updating this dual-frontage Victorian terrace.
The female client is a geologist and for the redesign, the architects took their inspiration from two sources – geodes (rocks with hollow cavities lined with jagged crystal that create a dazzling inner world) and a zigzag motif. The architects drew on this inspiration to design a soaring yet approachable living space that delights the eye without the need to rely on outside views.
Inspired to explore what your home could become with an expert’s touch? Find a local architect on Houzz
Inspired to explore what your home could become with an expert’s touch? Find a local architect on Houzz
Ground-floor plan.
In the same way as a geode, the home opens from an unassuming exterior to reveal a fascinating inner space. Soaring 3.8-metre-high louvres and skylights bring light and the outdoors into this secret world.
An accordion rhythm compresses and connects the vast spaces, wittily expressed by a recurring zigzag motif in the floors, louvred windows and even the kitchen bench.
In the same way as a geode, the home opens from an unassuming exterior to reveal a fascinating inner space. Soaring 3.8-metre-high louvres and skylights bring light and the outdoors into this secret world.
An accordion rhythm compresses and connects the vast spaces, wittily expressed by a recurring zigzag motif in the floors, louvred windows and even the kitchen bench.
First-floor plan.
The owners had several must-haves for the new design, including indoor and outdoor living spaces with room to entertain, play mahjong and enjoy quiet time together as a family. As avid scuba divers, they also needed an area to store and clean their gear. Ample, integrated storage was another priority and the house needed to be fully automated and sustainable in its design.
The owners had several must-haves for the new design, including indoor and outdoor living spaces with room to entertain, play mahjong and enjoy quiet time together as a family. As avid scuba divers, they also needed an area to store and clean their gear. Ample, integrated storage was another priority and the house needed to be fully automated and sustainable in its design.
The architects retained the original terrace house, transforming most of the ground floor into a massive living area that flows from inside to out.
The living room transitions seamlessly to a covered outdoor living space and then onto a garden, which features a fire pit and custom benches where the owners project an illuminated mural onto the massive warehouse wall at night.
The living room transitions seamlessly to a covered outdoor living space and then onto a garden, which features a fire pit and custom benches where the owners project an illuminated mural onto the massive warehouse wall at night.
Moving the front entrance to the side reduced the perceived length of the home and made more effective use of the normally wasted side-entry path.
“The house opens around you the instant you enter. There’s no trekking down a corridor past bedrooms to get to the living spaces,” says Cole. “This creates an arresting experience for everyone who walks in.”
“The house opens around you the instant you enter. There’s no trekking down a corridor past bedrooms to get to the living spaces,” says Cole. “This creates an arresting experience for everyone who walks in.”
The design dissolves the feeling of being inside in several ways. External elements, such as brick, are used indoors, and the outdoors is viewed from every angle through generous windows and open spaces. The result? A light and connected interior that makes the outdoor-loving owners feel like they’re living alfresco.
“The site is extraordinarily deep and our concept for it was expansive, with a dramatic cathedral ceiling that goes from 5.2 to 5.8 metres high,” says Cole.
“To stop it from feeling too vast and drawn out, we looked for ways to compress the space. We settled on an accordion concept to distract the eye and connect all the living spaces while keeping them distinct. It’s expressed as a zigzag motif, which you see in the angled louvres, the brickwork, the brass floor detail and the custom kitchen bench.”
“To stop it from feeling too vast and drawn out, we looked for ways to compress the space. We settled on an accordion concept to distract the eye and connect all the living spaces while keeping them distinct. It’s expressed as a zigzag motif, which you see in the angled louvres, the brickwork, the brass floor detail and the custom kitchen bench.”
Before works.
The house deliberately confounds perspective. It feels like you’re outside. The owner enjoys watching guests grappling with what they see: “Their eyes widen, their mouths open and they gaze up, trying to figure out if they’re inside or outside,” he says.
The house deliberately confounds perspective. It feels like you’re outside. The owner enjoys watching guests grappling with what they see: “Their eyes widen, their mouths open and they gaze up, trying to figure out if they’re inside or outside,” he says.
External elements, such as the original archways, rear balcony and the exterior walls of the surrounding warehouses, are visible from inside the house, giving the home a topsy-turvy edge.
The home is fully automated, which means everyone in the family can control lights, locks, ceiling fans, air-conditioning, music, underfloor heating, solar power and the CCTV surveillance system with a few taps on a smartphone.
Sustainability was a key focus, as it is with every project the architectural practice undertakes.
The house features a 10kW solar system supported by Tesla battery storage, enabling near-zero electricity bills throughout the year. The design creates a comfortable environment that minimises the need for heating and cooling by optimising cross ventilation, thermal mass, insulation and passive solar strategies.
The house features a 10kW solar system supported by Tesla battery storage, enabling near-zero electricity bills throughout the year. The design creates a comfortable environment that minimises the need for heating and cooling by optimising cross ventilation, thermal mass, insulation and passive solar strategies.
The project’s embodied energy was reduced by using recycled floorboards and dry-pressed bricks, and restoring rather than replacing the original heritage features, such as the front balcony, balustrade, locks, cornices, gutters, downpipes, boundary walls, windows and doors.
This principle of reuse helps the additions and alterations harmonise with the original building and creates an endlessly interesting interior. For example, the feature wall above the dining table is the outside wall of the original house. Likewise, a preserved back-terrace balcony has an outlook into the interior dining space, which was once the side courtyard.
Storage has been cleverly woven throughout the home, including open shelves in the underside of the kitchen/dinning floor as you step down into the living area.
Most of the AU$2 million renovation budget went on the ground-floor kitchen, dining and living renovation, including extensive structural works required to create the dramatic ceiling heights.
Towards the rear, the ground-floor interior merges into a covered, indoor-outdoor entertaining space, which flows almost seamlessly into a bricked rear courtyard.
The house is flanked on both sides by warehouses, making clever design a must when it came to bringing in light and warmth.
To minimise the need for further renovations down the line, the home was future-proofed for later life stages.
To foster ageing in place, the bathroom features handrails and discreet custom-made grab rails as well as higher toilet seats.
Wine storage after works.
Your turn
Are you as impressed by this inventive redesign as we are? What’s your favourite feature? Tell us in the Comments below. And don’t forget to save these images, like this story and join the conversation.
More
Would you like to see another creative reworking of an age-old home? Check out Arch Deco House: A Designer’s Masterclass on Curves & Colour
Your turn
Are you as impressed by this inventive redesign as we are? What’s your favourite feature? Tell us in the Comments below. And don’t forget to save these images, like this story and join the conversation.
More
Would you like to see another creative reworking of an age-old home? Check out Arch Deco House: A Designer’s Masterclass on Curves & Colour
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Thats the most amazoing space you've ever featured. Bar none. Thoughtful, beautiful, creative. More words than I have are needed to admire it. Thank you for sharing something so incredibly original.
So cool! I love the innovation that went into this. And all of the natural details!!
Do yourself a favor and watch the provided video, it’s incredible!