A "Parody in Parapets"

When local council in a heritage area insisted on a 'traditional aesthetic' house to replace the existing knockdown, Enter Architecture jumped to the challenge. Predominantly parapeted, pitched roof structures line the streets of these stuffy, parochial suburbs, where gossiping neighbours (mainly sun beaten British ex-pats) lurk round every corner. Ready to pounce at the very sniff of a new build, gossip columns are created, spreading faster than an Aussie bushfire! Enter downplayed the design of the new structure. Concrete shells with bunker-like proportions were studied and explored to provide a house with quirky proportions and lines creating spatially dramatic interiors, including lofted skylighted rooms, with grand gesture ceiling heights. The result at the back of the development is a large expanse of glass that opens up the living and sleeping areas to views towards the Sydney Cricket Ground, just incase there's a wicket taken. Rooftop access ensures skyline views of the CBD.

In with old and out with the new - Bungalow reinvented

Bungalow reinvented

Perspective View [front]


Perspective View [front]

Balcony Detail View

Perspective Night View

Axonometric [right]

Axonometric Elevation


Axonometric [left]


Elevation [front]

Axonometric Elevation

Elevation [side]

Exploded Axonometric

Proposed Floor Plan


Proposed Elevation [front]

Proposed Elevation [side]

Concept

Rather than tearing down a very run down Chinese bungalow from the 60s, the client chose to keep the remains and asked us to come up with a new roof, new deck and new external areas with additional windows and doors that would make the place more functional.
With references to masks, totems, tree like branching systems and native flora and fauna, we came up with an elaborate "cover up system" that would simply, add to the old remains of the house which would preserve the old and keep it intact. The steep roof allows the volcanic dust to run off, while the trellis provides new rigidity to the occasional shake up or 2 (the nearest volcano is less that 10km away.
As designers, we were so inspired by this brief and unusual premise that we wish to continue down the same road, and will keep going on the same line of thinking for future existing dwellings and structures.

Existing Conditions

Kenneth Street Condominiums

Kenneth Street [South Montage]

Kenneth Street [Light Gills Perspective]

Kenneth Street [Unit Three Living Room]

Kenneth Street [Roof Plan]

Kenneth Street [Precast Concrete Shell Studies]

Concept

Kenneth Street Condominiums is a forth-coming project located along the ocean walk in Tamarama, Sydney. With a prominent site next to the water, we focused our design to open the building up for the view. A system of 1 meter concrete panels were draped over the buildings form. These panels then rotate at 45 degree angles to expose view and introduce light to the interiors. The flexibility of the system allows the shell of the building to reflect the interior spaces.

Kenneth Street Condominiums: Drawing Set

Kenneth Street [Unit Three Level One]

Kenneth Street [Unit Three Level Two]

Kenneth Street [East Elevation]

The Aldrich Residence: COMPLETE!

Located in Perth, Western Australia, the Aldrich Residence was derived as an extension of the landscape; a landscape that opens onto the waterfront. Evoked by this view, the residence is shaped out of the supple form of the natural terrain to embrace the water. It nestles itself between the landscape and under the uidity of a single gesture, the roof.

The Aldrich Residence: Photos

Aldrich Residence [Roof Detail]

Aldrich Residence [Living Room]

Aldrich Residence [ Facade]

Aldrich Residence [Stair to Roof Deck]

Aldrich Residence [Inteior]

Concept

Utilizing computer-aided terrain modeling, the roof is a non-parallel extension of the landscape below. It has been digitally enhanced to provide a unique porous stratum in which the volume of the house exists. These volumes, in turn, act as extensions of the ground which gracefully oat out across the site. The digitally conceived roof above allows space within the house to compress and expand as it collects light and exposes views. The light is encouraged to wash over the concrete surface exposing the subtlety, elegance and delicate nature of the curves. Like a jigsaw, the roof and landscape interlock so as one moves through the house there is an ever-shifting viewpoint between solid and void. It is the juxtaposition between natural and digital through which patterns and rhythm’s become activated by the property’s natural setting.

The Aldrich House: The Roof

Aldrich Residence [Bird's Eye Perspective]

Aldrich Residence [Site Context]

Aldrich Residence [Roof Detail]

Aldrich Residence [Roof Deck]

Aldrich Residence [Roof Deck]

Program

The three bedroom, two bathroom, two living room house branches out across the site as if the residence was a swathe of earth in the site from which it emerged. Two separate interior living areas inhabit the extremities of the residence's arms and are united only by the uid concrete roof above. Toward the west side of the house are the bedrooms and bathrooms. Here, the private program is implanted onto the ground, acting less as a spectacle, establishing the residence's primary attachment to its site. As one moves through the space they encounter the continuous concrete roof, oering a lens through which you can read the volumes as they unfold across the land. On top of the roof is a viewing deck. An expansive view is framed and complimented by the graceful undulation of the roof's surface, simulating the surroundings in which it resides.