Get That Good North Light
C Street, Hilton
This is part of an ongoing design process for a growing family in Hilton. They love their suburb and the character of their home, but they need more space and a house that works for them. We have been working with the family to design a new extension and granny flat for the site, while recladding and insulating the existing house so that it keeps nice and warm during winter and presents well to the street.
Briefing Stage
The Briefing Stage is a great opportunity for us to learn more about your project, and for you to get explore some early ideas about your project. You’ll also get some insight into realistic timeframes, budgets and possibilities. In this project, we did a questionnaire with the clients to get a really clear idea of the types of features, characteristics and qualities they wanted in their project. Terms like “natural”, “open to outdoors” and “sustainable” were key terms early in the process.
We do a detailed Briefing Questionnaire at the beginning of our projects, so that we have a good opportunity to talk with our clients about what they want out of their project. It also gives them a chance to reflect on their project priorities in a structured way.
Starting with the Site.
Now that we had a better understanding of what the client valued in their project, we started to look at what was possible on the site. Like all projects, we reviewed the local planning documents and reached out to the planning department early in the process to see how and where we can do any extensions. There are quite restrictive planning considerations in Hilton which meant that it would best to push the project to the back of the site, and that the extension would have to be single storey.
The site is an awkward ‘tear-drop’ shape and the existing house is about 45° off north, making it hard to incorporate passive solar principles in its current arrangement. In addition to the 3D digital model we had put together, we made a physical card model to get a better sense of the site. We did some quick ‘tests’ with the physical site model to see how we could place the extension so that we could still bring in lots of north light, leave useable outdoor space and start to open the house out to several courtyards. It quickly became apparent that separating the existing house from the bulk of the extension, and linking them together would allow us to reorientate the extension to the north – which is a key principle in passive solar design. It would also allow lots of pockets of space around it for courtyards and a pergola.
House Planning
Now that we knew the rough shape of the house we started to explore how each of the rooms within it would fit together in a functional and efficient way, while still staying true to the guiding principles of the project. Architects love to use ‘yellow trace’ paper which allows us to quickly sketch up lots of options. On this project we worked through dozens and dozens of options. We met with the client every few weeks to go through how the design was progressing and to get their feedback on the function and feel of the project.
Draw, model & discuss
So that the client could have an informed opinion on the project, and so that we as a design team could start to better visualise how the project was coming together, we continued to work on the physical model. We also continued to develop the 3D model and images to better understand the nuances of the project; how the spaces connect, how the furniture and cabinetry could work and what the views might look like. This constant loop of draw, model and discuss with the client ensures that project is becoming more refined and feeding in the clients feedback
The new main living area will let lots of north light in (to the right of screen). This will help warm the house during winter and keep it cool during summer. It opens up to the south to the yard beyond.
The new main living area opens up to a south facing yard with a deck and garden
The kitchen opens up to the living area and provides a link to the existing house