Conceptual framework This is not capital A architecture ... rather a modest edit to a well mannered suburban house. With minimal increase to the original footprint, new work focused on three main ambitions: engage the topography of the site to be experienced in the every day use of the home; provide a generous, well sheltered outdoor area that focused on a narrow city view and thirdly; to draw northern sun deep into the south facing living spaces in winter yet exclude it in summer. Public and Cultural Benefits An open screened carport and layered garden retain visual permeability between the street and the house proper. Whilst the carport has a zero setback, cantilevered roof planes and warm timber finishes help to animate the public domain. Relationship of Built Form to Context The site falls steeply away from the street and the bulk of the house sits below street level. Window openings are predominantly in the north and south facades and often screened with adjustable louvres. The occupants mediate relationships between light, aspect and privacy by fine adjustment these louvres. Program Resolution This project transforms a dark south looking house into a light-filled home. Additional program was limited to a new bedroom and family space and a more amenable south-facing upper outdoor space. Relocating the entry of the house deeper into the site opened up sight lines through each floor to the rear garden. Locating the stair at this entry also ensured day to day passage provided

visual connection to both the north and south gardens. The primary living and balcony spaces are flooded with winter sun via two generous north-opening roof planes. Digital modeling allowed us to fine-tune the design so to completely exclude direct sun during summer. Integration of Allied Disciplines Additional consultant contribution to the project were structural and hydraulic services. Cost/Value Outcome The emphasis on design quality over quantity of floor space was a sound financial investment and an appropriate strategy for the site. Sustainability Sustainability is instrumental to the organisational concept, detailed design thinking and realisation. Retaining the material qualities of the original house through adaptation rather than demolition led to a process of edits and adjustment, vastly improving passive thermal performance. An endearing outcome also ensures embodied energy will be dissipated over a long time period. Double glazing and zoning anticipate the colder months. Low VOC paints and local timbers dominate the interior finishes. Plywood soffits punctuate the journey from entry to rear terrace and loggia. Rainwater flushes toilets and feeds the garden. Response to Client and User needs Our focus was, as always, on both the essential and the potential in site/client/brief scenario. Our approach is one of embracing the essential and exploiting the potential as generative and contributory elements in the project rather than as inhibitions to overcome.