Burrawong House

Australia

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Burrawong House

Australia

Firm

Bijl Architecture

Type

Residential › Private House

STATUS

Built

YEAR

2016

SIZE

3000 sqft - 5000 sqft

BUDGET

$1M - 5M

Situated at the edge of Sydney Harbour National Park, the Burrawong House initiates a new affinity between the dwelling and its bushland site through a series of insertions and augmentations to the existing building. With this approach, the scheme enhances the tectonic, functional and material value captured of the dwelling, directly engaging with ideas of resilience and agility.
Set well back from the road, the dwelling nestles into its bushland setting, with the neighbouring dwellings varying in age and aesthetic, but generally exhibiting traditional roof forms and massing. The modest extension to the retained gable roof of the Burrawong House allows it to retain its low streetscape profile, with only the new Terracade-clad box hinting at the transformation of the dwelling.
The clients desired an immersive experience of this tranquil setting, focusing on the living spaces, lap pool, main bedroom and music studio. Tasked with reinventing the accommodation of the original 1970s dwelling, the adopted zoning diagram reinforces the established north-south orientation, retains and expands upon the existing view lines, and effectively retains the bedrooms and service spaces along the southern portion of the floorplate.
In addressing the topographical challenges, sustainability values, budget and preferred minimal increase in building footprint, the existing ground floor level was reconfigured to allow for two vertical incisions – one stair leading to a new loft bedroom, the other stair leading to the music studio inserted into the subfloor. The north elevation binds the internal and external living areas together through a strong visual and physical connection to the bush, the covered deck space retained as an effective interstitial element. From here, the site is readily traversed, with access to the rambly gardens along the northern frontage, and to the new lap pool that extends into the dense bushland.
Whilst the pool incurs the most significant change to the site occupation, it encapsulates the desire for immersion in the bush vista, and has allowed rehabilitation of the adjacent creek, landscape and fauna habitat. The integration of the pool, deck and subfloor storage allows for a full consolidation of the previously unkempt subfloor space and overdesigned foundational structure.
This redundancy and flexibility in the existing structure was leveraged to achieve small but incisive changes to the external and internal fabric, with the walls discreetly removed to accommodate the opening of the ground floor plan. Roof trusses were repurposed in place, articulating the scale and proportion of the punctuating clerestory windows, creating an interplay of light, rhythm and pace in the transition from the open plan living spaces to the bedrooms and service spaces.
With respect to the material language, the existing face brickwork is retained, with the tiled roof replaced by corrugated steel and the new additions clad in terracotta and FC cladding. These selections not only preserve the aesthetics of the bushland setting aesthetics, and the drive to engage with excellent life-cycle costing outcomes, thermal massing opportunities and low maintenance, but also to address the stringent requirements of the BAL-FZ bushfire rating of the property.