Light House

Alexander Symes Architect

Light house is an example of how a typical poorly designed dwelling that does not perform well thermally, from a daylight perspective or how it integrates with landscape can be converted to address each well whilst retaining the majority of the existing structure. Architect Alexander Symes was approached to renovate the home by university friends, who wanted to entrust the project into the hands of someone they knew. The key brief was to create a family home that was flooded with natural light, had room for growing herbs and the ability for electric vehicle charging in the garage.

Previously, the home was entered via a long set of stairs within a narrow western setback. Imagining a more inviting entrance, the project team created a new green roof on street level that can be accessed through a new bridge. Setting the tone for the kind of solutions that define this project, the entry opens into a light and bright home, where glass bricks in the boundary construction, skylights throughout the floor plate and evenly distributed windows along the overshadowed western elevation greatly improved the home’s natural light stores.

All timber was re-used either during construction or recycled and the main material to leave site was the concrete tile which was recycled and turning into a circular economy product re-used on site.

Photography by Barton Taylor.

 

Dissections
Furniture: Jardan. Lighting: Beacon Lighting. Finishes: Space Joinery. Fittings & Fixtures: Harvey Norman Commercial.