The decisive transformations of the kitchen and bathrooms in this 1970s house contrast bright and luminous open areas with dramatic and shadowy private spaces.
The story of SRG House by Sydney firm Fox Johnston is not just a tale of sensitive refurbishment. Rather, the project charts the myriad challenges faced in the recovery of a three-storey, semi-detached house designed by Stuart Whitelaw in 1972 for his client, architect Roy Grounds. When architect Conrad Johnston took ownership of the place a few years ago, little more than the concrete structure was fit for habitation. “We had to be strong with our interventions,” says Conrad. “It wasn’t a case of just replacing some carpet.”
A decaying facade prompted the total rehabilitation of the skin, and a commercial-grade mechanical cooling unit was removed to recover space on the ground floor. Among the many definitive changes were sliding and operable door and window units with high-performance timber-framed glass. The units made the suffocating interior breathable and strengthened each room’s engagement with the majestic garden and waterfront. Clever shifts brought a sense of generosity to rooms in the tight, 3.4-metre-wide zigzagging plan and created more inviting and habitable spaces. Sustainable linings, including cork floors and wood wool ceiling panels, tempered the interior with a sumptuous finish while delivering a profound thermal and acoustic transformation.
The redesign of the kitchen was central to the alterations. The space was reorientated toward the treetops and tuned to a brighter chromatic dial: plywood was introduced to bring a fresh blonde face to the cabinetry, open shelving and island bench, while brass was added as a visual accent. To remove pressure from the pinch-point of the plan (the transition between the kitchen and dining areas), the envelope was reconfigured to slide open, allowing the interior to draw in the cool, fern-mediated outside air. Creating a sweeping, curved dining banquette and a triangular kitchen island bench further improved the family of five’s movements through this active zone.
While the social spaces of the house were made to embrace opportunities for light, outlook and openness, the bathrooms were designed for introversion and celebrated shadow. Laid in deep ochre-coloured Japanese finger mosaic tiles, ceiling-to-floor walls create drama in these small but impactful rooms. The earthen tones pay homage to the house’s forgotten mission-brown roots, which had been buried and were found by Conrad’s astute explorations, and are now reborn in this triumphant transformation.