This duplex project overcame a challenging site to create houses with a strong individual aesthetic that highlight iconic Harbour Bridge and Opera House views.

Brief

The client requested a duplex where each house had its own identity, differentiated through mass and material. The houses were each to have four bedrooms and space for parking. No. 2 (left) was to be for sale and no. 6 was to be the client’s residence.

Challenges

The biggest challenge was the sites, which were small (225sqm and 336sqm), steep and irregular. This required clever planning, extensive excavation, unique designs and complex construction.

Design response

Connected yet separate, each presents a distinct facade to the street. Indeed, No. 2 presents a curved brick mass with window penetrations (a response to the apartment building across the road), while No. 6 presents a rectilinear off-form concrete frame which ‘extrudes’ a black steel box and more expansive glazing.

The houses were excavated into the rock at street level to provide basement parking. Living spaces have been placed at the top of the buildings to maximise views, access northern sunlight (through clerestory glazing), and relate back to private gardens at the rear of the houses.

Sustainability features

• The buildings utilise thermal mass, cross-ventilation and the stack effect to minimise energy requirements
• Materials are natural, recycled (brick, timber) or recyclable (brick, stone, concrete, steel), while composite, highly-processed materials have been avoided.