A House for Grandma is a pavilion within the landscape. Spaces are modest in size yet comfortable for functional contemporary living. The architecture provides a neutral canvas for the display of furniture, objects and a lifetime of memories; there is room for something old, something new & others are yet to be included.

The project is part of a larger renovation; alteration and additions to an existing single storey dwelling on a 968 sqm site in a leafy suburb of the Upper North Shore, NSW.

Our brief was to maximise the site’s potential and create options for our client.

Brcar Morony administered a lump sum contract (ABIC SW-2008 H NSW).

AWARDS

Inside Out x Brickworks House of the Year Awards 2023 - Category: Best use of materials: Brick

Grand Designs Australia House of the Year Awards 2024 - Category: Small Renovation

NOMINATIONS

NSW Architecture Awards 2023 - Shortlisted: Residential Architecture Alts and Adds Category

Houses Awards 2023 - Shortlisted: Houses Alterations and Addition under 200sqm

Grand Design Australia Magazine House of the Year Showcase Shortlist Nominee 2024

ARTICLES

The Sydney Morning Herald ‘The Boomers renovating their homes in ‘a kaleidoscope of colours’ - May 2023

Houses Magazine Issue 155 ‘A House for Grandma’ - December 2023

The Local Project ‘Emphasised Warmth’ - December 2023

The Design Files ‘An Unused Garage Turned Sophisticated Granny Flat’ - December 2023

Dwell ‘This Brick Backyard House Doubles as a Sunken Living Room for the Garden’ - January 2024

The Rose House consists of alterations to a two storey house. A solid masonry façade responds to and protects the house from the site’s street frontage, a charmless and inhospitable cul-de-sac consisting of 1970s apartment building car parking podiums and the Bradfield Highway beyond. The cul-de-sac and nearby highway, a source of constant noise, needed to be addressed in the reconfiguration. A heavy masonry front façade with various sized apertures acting much like the battlements of a medieval castle was designed to protect the house from this environment and offer respite and tranquillity within. While a strong barrier was required, recycled bricks, some from the existing house, were used to provide warmth and texture to this façade.

Black steelwork, synonymous with strength, is used as sheltering elements and frames openings within the brickwork.

As one passes through the house, the solidity of the façade lightens and dissipates until there is almost nothing left between the interior and exterior spaces. The living room and master bedroom end in a wall of glass to the east and harbour views beyond.

NOMINATIONS

Arch Daily Building of The Year 2022 Nomination - The Rose House

ARTICLES

Architecture & Design - ‘The Rose House’ - January 2022

Dwell Magazine - ‘ A Knockout Brick Facade Shelters an Airy Home in Sydney’ - February 2022

Arch Daily - June 2023

Ville & Casali - ‘Una casa a Sidney rifiorisce come una rosa’ - December 2023

Restless Living - ‘The Rose House’ - January 2024

Brcar Morony Architecture was approached to design the renovation of an existing ground floor 3-bedroom apartment in Rushcutters Bay, Sydney NSW.

The clients, who are a young family of three, wanted to explore possibilities of creative storage and working solutions for an executive, flexible and family orientated lifestyle within a modest footprint.

The brief was to transform a tired and dark apartment into an open, free flowing and interconnected series of spaces that would extend through to their external private courtyard. 

Removing existing external walls and the enlargement of existing internal openings provides better connection with a seamless indoor/outdoor transition.

A contemporary, classic and neutral colour palette was selected. The aesthetic consists of warm American oak solid timber floor boards layed in a herringbone pattern, a combination of American oak and white polyurethane joinery elements, black steel door frames, and restrained use of Carrara marble throughout the kitchen and bathroom.

Innovative and clever strategies were used to create spaces and nooks throughout the apartment; a study desk now suspends within an existing doorway which transforms into a display or service area for the dining room. Slender profiled joinery was designed to display, store and conceal whilst not becoming over bearing within the spaces.

Solid timber American oak reveals where installed to the new and enlarged openings within the apartment. These three timber portal frames provide a visual connection and overall warmth and generous sense of scale to the apartment.

NOMINATIONS

Houses Awards 2020 – Shortlisted: Alterations to Apartment under 200sqm

ARTICLES

Sydney Morning Herald Domain - ‘On a lean budget, a 1970s apartment is revitalised by structural change’ - July 2019

Belle Smart Spaces Edition - ‘Light Thinking’ – August 2019

The Design Files - ‘Two Bedrooms Are Better Than Three, In This 1970s Sydney Apartment’ - August 2019

Brcar Morony Architecture were approached post Development Application approval to undertake the design detailing and delivery of the approved works. The project involves demolition of the existing structure to the rear of the property and replacing it with a new first floor addition containing a master bedroom, ensuite and robe. The first floor addition is accessed via a plate steel stair inserted within a new void over a new dining room.  

Brcar Morony administered a lump sum contract (ABIC SW-2008 H NSW) over a 6 month time period.

Project completed in April 2017.

'Working with Natalie and Chris Griffin of Burmah Constructions has been smooth & easy with continuous communication...'

Client Gene Black

ARTICLES

Design Anthology Magazine - ‘A New Lease on Life’ - June 2019

The project involved the transformation of a 1960s two bedroom apartment which was lacking natural daylight into an elegant and light filled space with refined, timeless finishes. 

The apartment was designed to be flexible for a sole executive owner with generous living and entertaining spaces easily able to be converted into secondary sleeping quarters for staying guests when necessary.

A flexible plan was created and overlaid with a minimalist and monochromatic aesthetic. Generous and finely crafted storage joinery is subtly integrated into each room to provide a series of spaces that appear and feel far more generous then they actually are. 

The removal of existing non load bearing walls, the use of clever joinery, sliding panels that can be hidden allow the spaces to connect more seamlessly with one another and also connect visually to its immediate context, views to the Sydney Harbour Bridge, Sydney Harbour and city CBD views.

Project completed in 2015

'Natalie has great design and management skills. She understood and addressed my needs and project brief entirely.  She delivered an outstanding fit out to my apartment which was on time and on budget. I am delighted to recommend her to you.’

Client Therese Adami

ARTICLES

Belle Smart Spaces Edition - ‘Flexi Time’ - Nov. 2016

The alterations and additions to this inner city terrace house were commissioned by a young executive couple. The project included the demolition of the rear of the house at ground level and the rebuilding of a larger space with kitchen/ dining area addressing the rear courtyard. An extended first floor allowed the creation of a master suite with ensuite and a generous second bedroom while an attic window addition provided opportunities for a study/ third bedroom at the top of the house. 

Optimisation of natural lighting opportunities through 3.6m high glazing to the rear facade and a large skylight over a new central stair void allowed daylight to reach the centre of the terrace.

As with many inner city projects, storage was of high importance and joinery was designed wherever possible to maximise the storage opportunities while presenting a refined minimalistic aesthetic.

The combination of polished concrete and stained hardwood flooring with recycled brickwork and white polyurethane joinery finishes resulted in an minimal but warm home suitable for a busy couple.

Services included architectural and interior design, authority approvals and construction documentation.

Project Completed in 2015.

"Amazing bespoke work by Brcar Morony Architecture and an absolute pleasure to work with".

Client Alicia Yelavich

A new single storey rear addition has been designed to complement an existing red brick period home in Rosebery. The site’s constraints and working around tree protection zones became the catalyst for the project. The result is a beautiful curved facade which embraces and is sympathetic to existing established vegetation which in turn forms a stunning courtyard space overlooking a new pool and garden.

Under construction.

Alteration and additions to an existing terrace house in Paddington. Approved through Woollahra Council. Work in progress.

A substantial renovation is proposed to a terrace that dates back to 1893. The local area was subdivided as the Toogood Estate in 1881. Now known as the suburb of Erskineville, Sydney NSW or traditionally the land of the Cadigal and Wangle people. The proposal maintains the primary built form, with a sympathetic upgrade and renovation breathing a new lease on life to the dwelling.

The proposed addition to the rear will be separated by a wing and courtyard forming a subservient two storey addition to the existing terrace.

Design in progress.

The project involves alterations and additions to an attached dwelling in a small strata development in Clovelly. The existing dwelling includes a large east facing rooftop terrace with ocean and regional views. The clients are looking to extend the living space of the dwelling onto the terrace to provide a spacious living area with seamless connection to the terrace.

Development Application expected to be lodged February 2021