Allan Street, Brunswick: The Benefits of a Small Footprint
Maximising Space Efficiency
More often than not, the thing that drives budget is building area. The cheapest scheme always involves less building. Being smart about the planning, means reusing repurposed space in a simple way to allow for less building area. The other driver is the complexity of construction. The chosen scheme did more in less building and encompassed quite a simple structure over the top with the amount of external walls limited i.e. not too many ‘ins and outs.’ We didn’t really change the main fabric of the existing house. We treated the old and new as two distinct areas. Budget-wise, this was an important approach.
Above: The finalised plan. The area to the east is the existing cottage with a new bathroom, laundry and ensuite extension. To the west is the new area with kitchen, dining, living and study areas connecting to the north facing garden.
The clients were hoping to incorporate a study area also so the goal soon became trying to maximize the amount of space or amount of function in the least amount of building. There were a few tricks applied to reach this. One was that the corridor in the new living space is effectively apart of the dining and living room. The study became an extension at the end of the living room – an additional space under the same building form, rather than building a new area out to the side. This form then extends to the rear boundary providing a storage area – a cheap, efficient way to gain extra space.
Above: the study space beyond the main living area
Solutions to Site Constraints
The primary constraints for this project were really the budget and the small site. The project also explored the idea of what a Brunswick worker’s cottage is and the lifestyle that it pertains for a young growing family. The location, the connection to parks, and the acceptance that you’re not going to have a big garden or backyard were also key guiding factors. Everything in a Brunswick worker’s cottage, on a tight site, is small. So how do you make it feel larger and lighter? How do you, not just let sunlight in, but create a sense of volume pulling away from the experience of being in a pokey terrace house in Brunswick? The constraints called for a reinvention of the worker’s cottage.
The solution was to angle the roof up to the east. Still a simple flat roof in form, but just tilted upward. The decision came about due to not just trying to bring more light in, but it was also a way for the space to really contrast to the rest of the house.
Going Small
In Japanese architecture there is an intention to really manicure a small space into something that functions while being pleasant to be in. As long as you aren’t walking through one space to get to another across a diagonal, then you can make small spaces work effectively. For example, a dining table is something you walk around because you have to sit around it. It immediately becomes circulation space which means you can double up the dining room circulation with the in-out circulation. This Japanese approach to design, has a way of looking at the elements that are to be housed by the space. It’s not just having a room that you then furnish, it’s getting the space to work for the intended furniture.
Although the footprint of this project is quite small, the ceiling is high. It feels quite big because it has this extra volume. When you have limited outdoor space you often only have short views. Having a tilted roof line with a bank of high windows meant that the space became quite sculptural while allowing views to the sky. A connection to the outside is so important. In smaller projects it becomes even more important to consider the shorter view, the mid-view, the sky view, and the long view.
Above: The tilted ceiling allowing windows that let in morning sun and allow long views of the sky.
Many extensions we’re involved in follow a similar strategy – you have a small terrace house with quite small spaces, repurposed with high, dramatic ceilings as seen in this project, or strategically placed large windows or even views from one space to another through a garden terrace. It makes the house feel like a much bigger space.