Balmain Houses

An ‘inter-generational house’, this project is a major alterations and additions which create a generosity of space and volume within a relatively compact form.

The project involved alterations and additions to two small workers cottages in the inner Sydney suburb of Balmain. Each of the properties are owned by different generations of the same family but developed as a connected pair capable of supporting the independence of each of these families. Architecturally the spaces are assembled as a compact sequence of unfolding scenes, whereby rooms bend and tilt into one another, and gradually overlap whilst carefully maintaining privacy.

Materials are quite and refined, and unite the spaces through a variety of different timber selections. Double height volumes and seamless connections to external spaces create a surprising spaciousness within a relatively compact building envelope.

Materials
External Walls: Recycled bricks, Western Red Cedar battens
Internal Walls: Recycled bricks, Plasterboard
Roofing: Lysaght Custom orb in ‘Windspray’, Polyair Ultra (Polyair)
Windows: Cedar timber window (Acacia Joinery), Aluminium louvres (GJ Aluminium)
Doors: Cedar timber doors (Acacia Joinery)
Flooring: Recycled timber floor – lime washed (Ironwood), Recycled timber floor – Synteko (Ironwood)
Lighting: Kreon Diapson, George Nelson Bubble Lamp, Viabizzuno Lucciola o Lanterna
Kitchen: Vola KVI tap, Slate benchtop, Spotted gum island bench, Polyurethane joinery, Highland cooktop
Bathrooms: Royal Mosa Tiles, Duravit Scola washbasins, Hikari sunken bath
Furniture: Objekto Paulistano, Modernica Grasshopper chair, Tio chair by Massproductions, SOFA #1

Benn + Penna Architects
Andrew Benn (Director), Alice Penna, Thomas Benn, Simon Apps

Builder: Join Constructions pty ltd
Engineer: BG&E Engineering
Lighting Designer: Simon Apps