Small House
living private°
Small House is a private residence located in Surry Hills, Sydney. The project was commissioned by Domenic Alvaro (Woods Bagot) and featured on Grand Designs Australia Series 1 Episode 2. Small House was completed in 2011.
Size: 42m2
Scope: Concept Design, Development Application, Tender Documentation, Construction
Small House has been recognised with the following awards:
2011 World Architectural Festival (WAF), World House of the Year
2011 AIA National Award for Small Project Architecture,
2011 NSW AIA Residential Architecture, Houses Awards - New house under 200m,
2011 Houses Award - Outdoor.
1. Potted rooftop garden (above left)
2. A quiet retreat (below left)
3. A garden for privacy, respite and food (right)
Inner-city Sydney living
Fig on a roof
A new paradigm
Late afternoon shadow
View from the rooftop
The rooftops of lower Surry Hills
…culminating in a delightful and unexpected rooftop garden
- Jury citation
2011 AIA National Award Jury Citation
The Small House in Surry Hills provides a maximum experience out of a minimum site. A simple construction technique, that of large precast concrete panels stacked on a floor-by-floor basis, has been employed to create a flowing series of spaces, which seem to spiral upward to more and more open living activities, finally culminating in a delightful and unexpected rooftop garden.
One could not have expected this result from seeing the site prior to construction, when it could just fit two cars squeezed in from a laneway.
The project offers potential as a new paradigm for the tight infill spaces that can be found throughout the inner ring of Australian cities and its impact will be felt far beyond the tight confines of its Surry Hills site.
