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HERITAGE (CREATIVE ADAPTATION)
COMMENDATION
bridging new and historic
interiors and varying changes
in level to make efficient use of
small spaces.
At the rear of the house the
refurbished courtyard garden
- lowered to the level of the
new kitchen and family room -
provides a private retreat from
the adjoining laneway.
This project demonstrates a
skilled and experienced re-
working of traditional 19th
century terrace typology,
creatively extended externally
and adapted internally to
accommodate contemporary
living requirements and amenity.
Comprising a narrow two-storey
19th century terrace, occupying
a site with a relatively wide
frontage in a side street in
McMahons Point, this adaptive
re-use project cleverly makes
use of the adjoining space
previously occupied by a
garage. Contemporary in its
expression, the two-storey
addition is sensitive not only to
the original house but also in its
acknowledgment of the broader
streetscape context.
The original dwelling retains
its external appearance to the
street but is entirely re-worked
internally, including alteration
of its circulation and principal
entry. The narrow space between
the addition and original house
is imaginatively conceived as a
dramatic double-height volume,
incorporating a new entrance
at ground floor and bridge
link at first floor. The interiors
are deceptively simple in their
expression and detail, confidently
Photography: Katherine Lu
House McBeath
Tribe Studio Architects
The original concrete frame with
its large spans and light and
shade pattern has been repaired
and exposed. The upper part of
the northwest façade has new
vertical sun-shading, replacing
the original panels which remain
on the lower storeys. On the
southeast deteriorated panels
were removed to let in light and
balconies and windows added,
whilst those intact panels retained
create an abstract pattern on the
facade.
Internally false ceilings were
removed and carefully coordinated
services installed, now exposed
against the high quality finish of
the original concrete. U-shaped
structural glass panels in interior
partitions reflect original panels in
the fire stairs.
Though there are extensive
changes, the outcome of this
considered adaptive reuse retains
the character of the original and
gives it a new life.
This five storey concrete
framed building in the Brutalist
style was designed in 1967,
as North Sydney Technical
College Science Block by the
NSW Government Architect’s
Branch; project architect Mark
Zatorski, and documented by
Collard Clarke and Jackson. The
precast concrete shell featured
recognizable horizontal brise-
soleils, unfortunately unsuited to
the orientation and since affected
by concrete cancer.
The brief was for a centre for
learning and innovation, as
the Institute’s new ‘Southern
Gateway’. The original south
entrance has been replaced by a
new double height entry on the
opposite side, fronting the college
green, and a new forecourt
created by removing internal
walls, extends the ground floor’s
open plan interior. This creates
an exciting and multi functional
space well utilised and related to
the rest of the campus.
Photography: Simon Whitbread
Cameraygal (formerly Dunbar building)
NSW Government Architect’s Office
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