With natural advantages of orientation and prospect, one suspects that prior to the arrival of Europeans, Elizabeth Bay was a sunny, protected and abundant place for the indigenous Gadigal people to live and commune. In 1826 Governor Darling granted Elizabeth Bay to Alexander Macleay. Soon after, a sea wall was built across the Bay establishing an estate of 54 acres featuring the beautiful Elizabeth Bay House, which some say is the finest house in Australia.
The site for our project was a later subdivision of the original estate and over time a dense city has grown up around this quiet harbour beach. Today Elizabeth Bay is amongst Australia’s most densely populated and highly urbanized areas.
To build a house on this site was a privilege but also a significant challenge for the Architect and Builder. The site's narrow width, its limited use set by covenants and easements and very restricted access, made planning a house and it's construction very complicated. Added to this were presence of heritage buildings and landscape features on or adjacent to the site, and simply the density of population living in apartment buildings surrounding and overlooking the site.
Our client wanted a house that would add positively to the streetscape and connect the occupants to this rich and varied context, while also providing a private and secluded inner world. A modern house beautifully crafted, with excellent materials and finish, but with an ancient air. The plan of the three level house with its wide central hallway, inner courtyard and double height veranda to the north, gives visual transparency and connection to the rich surrounds, cross ventilation, protection from sun and rain, but most importantly a real sense of enclosure and privacy. The project also included the integration of a heritage-listed boatshed, a pool and facilities and significant landscape works.
Elizabeth Bay is full of fine brick buildings, however the choice of brick was driven primarily by the aim to build a structure of a timeless quality that would weather and age with dignity. The primary architectural elements that define the house are insulated 370mm thick load bearing brick walls. They provide thermal mass and visual and acoustic privacy and have a visual weight and density that defines rooms both inside and out. They importantly have a warmth, colour and character that compliments our other building materials and details.
Between the brick walls and forming the balance of the facade are beautiful western red cedar panels sometimes 9 meters high. They act as cladding, window and furniture simultaneously, providing for ventilation, light, view, privacy, and storage and services. Beautiful brass, timber, steel and copper elements complement the brickwork and cedar panels. Most of these elements and fixtures were custom designed for the project and were fabricated by local contractors and trades people. The house also includes the latest technology and environmental systems. Water storage, grey-water re-cycling, energy efficient heating and cooling systems, lighting control and automation, security, access-control, and entertainment systems are all the most up to date. But they are not overtly expressed. Great care has been given to invisible integration with easy and direct interface.
In all the house attests to a significant collaboration between Architect, Builder and the many contractors and artisans required to build a house of this complexity. It attests to a belief in the handmade, the crafted and the local. A process underpinned by a client willing to trust in this collaboration and to appreciate and understand the significance of the project and its aims.