Sarah Roach took a sensitive, practical approach to expanding this heritagelisted Federation home to fit the needs of a growing family

a designer, working on a historic property is a privilege that comes with its own set of challenges. ‘This property is part of a pair of symmetrical semi-detached Federation homes that are heritage listed in a conservation area,’ says Sarah Roach, founder and director of residential design studio Entrance Hall. ‘The design therefore had to be sympathetic not only to the streetscape, but also to the adjoining neighbour.’

The connection between Roach and her clients, a couple with a baby, was immediate, and helped foster the trust and confidence required for all the design choices made along the way. Located in lively Bondi, the house — with an original footprint of just over 90 square metres — was given new life with an addition that expands the total area to 155 square metres to fit the needs of the growing family.

Increasing the home’s floor area resulted in the reorganisation of the spaces over two levels (instead of the original one) to increase functionality, privacy and the sense of flow throughout. The ground floor keeps the two existing bedrooms and adds a bathroom with an integrated laundry at the front of the house, where the bagged brick and terracotta-tiled roof portion of the house has been retained. With its generous three-and-a-half-metre-high ceilings, the light-filled kitchen, living and dining area occupies the rear addition, also built with bagged brick on the ground floor to match the existing cladding on the first floor. Elegant yet cosy, this space sets the tone for the overall aesthetic in the new addition. ‘The colour palette is deliberately restricted and consists predominantly of shades of white,’ Roach says, and the resulting atmosphere is both fresh and cosy.

The new first floor allowed for the addition of a peaceful and bright master bedroom and ensuite, as well as a study — currently used as a nursery — contained within the existing hipped roof space, with operable skylights and an internal window to the staircase. To the rear of the existing roof, the addition has a flat parapet roof, its design ‘utilising a subtle curve to soften the streetscape impression’, and including a lightweight glazed link to the main roof, which ‘separates the new works and emphasises the heritage terracotta roof form’, says Roach.

Roach mixed Carrara marble and timber flooring in the main living area, and stone and handmade Moroccan tiles in the bathrooms, providing visual balance and enhancing the coherence of the interiors, while outside, she says, ‘Only cosmetic landscaping was required, such as replacing the boundary plantings and turf, maintaining existing vegetation and repaving the side access path.’

From the very beginning of the project, the designer paid close attention to the existing forms on the streetscape and heritage reviews of other buildings in the conservation area. ‘The development was lodged with the council and was approved in about a month, with no objections,’ she says. Reflecting this respectful approach to its design, the home delicately combines old and new, and captures the beauty of its past while laying the foundation for its future.

Sarah Roach renovated this heritage-listed Federation home in Sydney to include a new addition and upper floor. The facade and charming entrance belie the updates, a testament to Roach’s sensitive, sympathetic approach

The rear addition features a flat roof and a subtle curve to soften the streetscape impression, while inside, three-and-a-half-metre-high ceilings give a sense of openness to the kitchen, living and dining area. Against the palette of whites, gentle pops of colour appear in the form of the handwoven Dari rug from Jardan, Sarah Ellison’s blush Alva arm chair and a large print from travel photographer Kara Rosenlund