Gadigal and Wangal people of the Eora Nation
New South Wales
House Gretchen resuscitates a tired 1907 terrace for a creative family. Sited within a heritage conservation area in one of Eora/Sydney’s prized cultural precincts, the home presents gently to the street. Inside, a playful program organises living spaces around a cubic volume of services, affording each daylight and ventilation.
Far from an open-plan solution, Gretchen is orchestrated around a central cube that offers entertainment, storage, and a generous kitchen and bar from three of its faces. A pivoting door affixed to the fourth conceals a laundry room, lit naturally from above by skylight openings set into a convex ceiling. The approach puts the belly of the home to good use, while reserving bright and leafy aspects to the yard and internal garden for living and dining on opposite ends of the volume. Gretchen’s occupants are invited to enjoy moments of relaxation apart, without being required to close down the house.
Lintel Studio has approached our terrace house renovation with a sense of care and sensitivity towards retaining elements of the original house, while also championing contemporary, sustainable and above all interesting design approaches. We are so excited about how the old and the new come together in our space.
Emiliano Miranda, Project Architect
William Xie, Graduate of Architecture
Dangar Barin Smith, Landscape Consultant
Partridge Engineers, Structural Engineer
JHA Engineers, Civil Consultant
Ebony Russell, Artist
Emily Galicek, Artist
CMS Surveyor, Building Surveyor
Weir Phillips Heritage, Heritage Consultant
GSA Planning, Town Planner