BOXING BOXING CLEVER CLEVER Despite Despite a a tight tight budget, budget, a a poky poky 1920s 1920s semi semi is is transformed into a light-filled family home with space to gather, thanks to big ideas and professional ingenuity

Who lives here Carolyn Chan, her husband, and their three children aged

11, eight and five.

Style of home A 1920s semi on Sydney’s lower north shore that’s been opened up and filled with natural light without expanding the existing footprint. Construction commenced in July 2018 and took a year to complete.

Many people find their architects and designers through word of mouth. But nothing speaks as loudly to a prospective client as a first-hand experience of a well-executed space. A visit to a friend’s newly renovated home was a defining moment for Sydney’s Carolyn Chan. “It was like nothing I’d seen before in our area; the aesthetic was so unique and refreshing and a clear deviation from the stock-standard designs I’d seen elsewhere,” she explains. “We were about to embark on our own renovation, and I knew I wanted to work with Lot 1 Design.”

Carolyn had obtained a DA for transforming the twobedroom semi into a four-bedroom home that would better suit her family of five. “It was very poky and there was no open space for them to gather,” recalls Tammy Miconi, the principal of Lot 1 Design. Neither the original house nor its later additions were designed to maximise the northern aspect. “The place was very dark and there was no natural light, so they had lots of issues with damp,” says the designer.

What the house did have going for it was the location and size of the block. “They were umming and aahing about renovating it or just finding another home. They looked but couldn’t find anything that really met their needs in terms of the area,” says Tammy. “It was on a large block so they could easily gain enough space for the five of them, and for the children to grow into it, so it made sense for them to renovate in the end.” Busy with work and family, Carolyn was happy to hand over the reins to Tammy to bring it all together stylishly on a budget.

Not a lot remained in the concept that was designed by

Neil Haybittel for DA and bought to life by Tammy, architect Peter Valencic and Richards Building Co. “The facade was retained to mirror the neighbouring semi, but apart from the two front rooms, the rest was gutted and rebuilt,” says Tammy. Transitioning the house from old to new at ground level is a double-height void (next to an internal courtyard), which opens to a large light-filled combined kitchen/dining and living room