Awards

Architecture Awards for Alterations & Addition – Residential Architecture

MWa have submitted The Diamond House, Artarmon into the Architecture Awards (2017 Australian Institute of Architecture NSW Houses Awards for Residential Architecture, Alterations & Additions). 

The Diamond House is a revitalised 1920s Californian Bungalow in a heritage conservation area in Artarmon (Willoughby Council), on the north shore of Sydney.

The clients are a tall and sporty family with three teenagers and this is to be their ideal home, next to the station, with a long north aspect.

The brief was for a low maintenance home, with northern sunshine into every room, framed views of greenery, contemporary character and space (with height) for all.

As the new owners, the clients also wanted a single level home which retained the heritage character at the front with contemporary living to the rear. 

Their accommodation brief was for a practical home with three teenager bedrooms conducive to HSC/uni study, and a family bathroom which could be used by all three teenagers at once – with privacy control.

They also needed a main bedroom suite, two living areas, a home office nook, a big kitchen, laundry with a built in ironing board, a covered outside space with bbq, storage, space for their artworks, a low maintenance garden and a garage.

The result is a home with a consistent use of materials and colours – from outside to inside, from front to back, from traditional to contemporary. 

The materials and colours form a palette of Australian hardwood (blackbutt), existing red bricks, new “bowral blue” facebricks, off form concrete, concrete look large format tiles through the home including wet areas, colourbond “monument” to new doors and windows,  dulux “whisper white” joinery and trims, and orange features (dulux “coppersmith” front door and cladding, “tangerine” pinboards, orange indoor/outdoor cushions, corten steel landscape features).

From a house built in the depression, amidst a materials storage and with an outdoor toilet – to The Diamond House of today, this project is a sensitive adaption of an outdated home and reflects the values,  aesthetics and standards of today’s domestic life.

Space standards, bathroom amenity, privacy, indoor/outdoor connection, abundant natural light, control over solar access (blinds and vergola), inbuilt USB ports, garaging, home office nook in the kitchen, rainwater tanks – these are all illustrations of contemporary lifestyle and domestic technology.

The insertion of new bespoke joinery into an existing traditional timber bay window seat in Bed 04 – which can be removed at any stage, and the new contemporary box bay window in Bed 03 – are examples of old to new within the home.

The boldness of the contemporary design, in the interior arrangement of the home, the materials selections and character of the home and its passive solar design principles, within a heritage conservation area and conservative suburban context, is an innovation in residential design itself.

The consistent, fresh and playful use of materials and colour, inside and out, also garnered recognition with a commendation in the Dulux Colour Awards for Residential.

Click here for more information about the Architecture Awards. 

2017 NSW Architecture Awards

Awards are announced 1 July 2017. 

Presented by Houses magazine, the Houses Awards is an annual program celebrating Australia’s best residential projects. Excellence is rewarded in nine categories, with the best house receiving the premier award of Australian House of the Year.  A Houses Award is one of Australia’s most sought-after accolades for residential work.

Each year, the Houses Awards entries provide a unique insight into contemporary residential design and the contribution Australia’s architects and designers make to enhancing the way we live today.

Entries are judged by an eminent panel of architects and designers who are themselves are recognised for creating inspirational Australian homes. The judging process is anonymous, transparent and confidential.

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