One For All
Step inside the home of Sydney architect Emili Fox, which has been designed to delight every member of the family.
Being your own client can be incredibly difficult for an architect or interior designer: having a multitude of ideas and choices can lead to indecision and thus inertia. Not so for architect Emili Fox, director of Fox Johnston, who has just completed a stellar rebuild of her own home in Sydney’s inner west.
Havinglivedintherundownhouseonasteeplysloping blockwithherhusband,cameramanandphotographer Reiner Schuster, and their two children, Noah, 13, and Andie, 11, for four years, it was finally time for action. With notions of modest living, sustainability and the desire to provide potential accommodation for parents and parents-in-law, there was much to contemplate.
Keen to mine the potential of a block that has two separate points of street access, Emili devised a plan for a house with a self-contained dual-key suite and garage on the lower two levels that form a podium for the two-storey main home above.
“We live on the ground and upper floor, and there is an apartment and a guest suite for our parents or other visitors below,” says Emili. “The design gives as much connection or separation as we all need. At first my husband joked that I’d designed a hotel – but he now realises how well the arrangement works.”
The beauty of the design is that the self-contained guestquarterscanbeopentothemainhouse,increasing its size and useability, or locked for independent living. Separateaccessfromthestreetbelowensurescomplete privacy for both the guest suite, which includes a
“THE DESIGN OF OUR HOME GIVES US AS MUCH CONNECTION OR SEPARATION AS WE NEED .” EMILI FOX , ARCHITECT & OWNER
UNDERSTATED PLY WOOD JOINERY PROVIDES A CALM, UNFUSSY BACK DROP FOR THIS BUSY HOUSEHOLD.
“THE HOUSE IS DESIGNED SO THAT, IN THE HOT SUMMER MONTHS, WE CAN CLOSE EVERYTHING UP DURING THE DAY AND OPEN IT AGAIN ONCE THE TEMPERATURE FALLS .” EMILI FOX
bedroom, kitchenette, bathroom and balcony, and a separate one-bedroom apartment with kitchen, bathroom, living room and balcony that’s rented out.
“As keen entertainers, we love that the split level creates a series of separate but interconnected spaces, allowingustoenjoysocialoccasionswithasmallgroup or to have a large get-together,” says Emili.
The main home has a light and airy feel, with living areas, dining and kitchen on the front street level. The space opens all the way from the walled entrance courtyard to the rear balcony that overlooks the city and harbour. Upstairs, there are three bedrooms, two bathrooms and a study – the main includes a balcony that also has city views; the other bedrooms look over a potted cactus garden.
The courtyards and garden – the work of William DangarofDangarBarinSmith–arecrucialtothedesign and the home’s seamless indoor-outdoor connection makesthe260-square-metreblockseemsomuchlarger. OneofEmili’sfavouritefeaturesisthehouse’sprominent garden courtyard and “the way the walls dissolve to fully embrace the garden aspect, plus how you can see through to the water from just about everywhere”.
Sustainability is reflected in the home’s orientation, solar panels with battery storage, rainwater tanks, greywater system, and sliding cedar screens and deep roof overhangs for shade. “It’s designed so that, in the hotsummermonths,wecancloseeverythingupduring the day and open it again once the temperature falls,” says Emili. All these elements add up to a house that functions at 92 per cent off the grid.
The materials palette is perfectly in keeping with the robust-yet-refined nature of the home. The downstairs areas are a mix of pale-timber joinery, raw and painted recycled bricks, and concrete floors and ceilings. Upstairs, wainscoted walls and a faceted ceiling in blue are offset by an indigo carpet. Emili worked with Lymesmith colour consultants to devise the scheme using Resene paints in quarter-strength Pearl Lusta, Smoky Green and quarter-strength Duck Egg Blue.
When it comes to furnishings, Emili opted for design classics with a contemporary twist. Deep-green accents recurthroughout–inanarmchair,ottoman,upholstered bench seat and even the letterbox. She has created a warm,convivialfamilyhomethat’snotonlysustainable but ingenious in its approach to multi-generational living. And that very demanding client’s brief? It’s been met in every way imaginable! > Fox Johnston, Surry Hills, NSW; foxjohnston.com.au. Dangar Barin Smith, Botany, NSW; dangarbarinsmith.com.au