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Architects: Whispering Smith
- Area: 200 m²
- Year: 2020
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Photographs:Ben Hosking
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Lead Architects: Kate FitzGerald
Text description provided by the architects. House B is the middle house in a development by Whispering Smith’s Director, Kate Fitzgerald, a project that has become one of the most informative case studies of best practice urban infill in Perth. In a city famous for demolishing suburban character to make way for ubiquitous ‘Mcmansions’ House B is an important project because it exemplifies the value a mindful architect can place on existing built and landscape character as leaders of development.
House B sits is an existing 1950’s post war brick house and surrounding mature trees left in place by Kate when she planned a subdivision with a micro-lot now known as ‘House A’. The small house and it’s relationship to the existing House B has captured the attention of the state and local governments, now attempting to combat significant tree canopy loss and urban heat island effect.
House B sits high up on a sloping block on old limestone footings, the perfect positioning for watching sunsets over the ocean and for catching the seabreeze that comes each afternoon in Scarborough. The original 2-bedroom red brick house is largely intact, nestled into a new extension – The junction between new and old is a barrel-vaulted corridor that runs the full length of the project from the front door to the back garden. Curve-topped steel doors separate the functional spaces from the living areas to create moments of unexpected craft that highlight a peep of the flowering Empress Tree beyond.
Existing smaller bedrooms have been cut through to make a study, with sliding timber doors to create layers of privacy to the master bedroom within the floorplan, and a private tropical garden adjacent to the ensuite. The kitchen opens up the travertine paved outdoor terrace through steel bifolds and the curved steel and marble kitchen island bench is clad in Italian triangular tiles my Mutina.
The decision to build the outdoor terrace above the garage has given back a green wedge to the east, the home of an existing Pt Cook Pine, that leans towards the equator, and the Empress Tree which create a private, sun-dappled green oasis. The outdoor shower is built around the trunk of the Empress tree for an after-surf rinse, and the garden a perfect place for whiling away a temperate Perth afternoon.
House B is a beautifully simple but well-crafted renovation and extension.
