A tiny inner city terrace is opened up and rearranged to enable a family of four, visiting grandparents and a black labrador to have private and public space in just 108 sq. metres.
The renovation of a tiny terrace by Hector Abrahams Architects was inspired by the client’s collection of professional B&W photographs with thin black frames.
The house is an exhibition of spaces: each with its own tone and spatial qualities, lighting, and new and recycled materials.
Multiple renovations had left too many layers and no redeeming architectural qualities. Place evoking made order out of this architectural blur. Space was found and maximised by designing a series of micro-planned spatial episodes, a journey through changing, black-rimmed spaces that articulate zones.
An industrial aesthetic was inspired by salvaged and reused materials, further emphasised by industrial glass bricks, that increase natural lighting, and the corrugated steel-lined rear extension. White and grey is a unifying colour scheme.
An existing house is made viable for future family use, respectful to its community and context through sensitive materiality and scale.