Spaceagency

Project Team

Michael Patroni, Dimmity Walker, Filipa Matos, John Pott, Marco Tripodi

Theme

The whole is greater than the sum of its parts.

Settings

Fremantle

Dressed to the nines

Having turned their project inside-out, back-to-front and upside-down, Dimmity Walker and Michael Patroni from spaceagency architects in Perth are ready to party. “We wanted to inject a sense of celebration and fun into our proposal, and to demonstrate that the idea of living close together can be positive,” says Walker. “We see the street as a whole, not just a series of individual houses, and we think that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.”

The architects argue that housing of the future must occupy less land while providing greater amenity and flexibility; and contributing to diversity and sustainability. Their new row of houses occupy modest sites – just 9m wide and 28m long – but cram plenty of liveability and green design into such a tight program.

By turning the houses inside-out – by building from boundary to boundary – more useable outdoor space is achieved on the small lot in the form of ground floor courtyards and a first floor terrace. Building across the width of the block with windows and doors that open to internal spaces alleviates privacy and overlooking issues with the neighbours.

Going upside down – placing the bedrooms on the ground floor and living areas above – allows optimal solar penetration, ceiling height and cross ventilation in the upstairs areas that benefit most, while the back-to-front aspect – with courtyard parking at the rear and no vehicle crossovers at the front – reconnects the houses to the street, improving neighbourhood interaction and increasing safety for cycling, walking and children playing.

Downstairs, the architects have incorporated two bedrooms and a flexible space that could be used as home office, studio, additional bedrooms or self contained ‘granny flat’, while upstairs comprises open-plan living areas and a master bedroom suite. A third level – including roof terrace – could be added as an option.

The design can be modified to ensure optimal orientation, cross ventilation and water collection, and the houses incorporate sustainable innovations such as insulated brickwork; ‘solar–e’ glass; photovoltaic cells for energy generation; rainwater storage tanks that are integrated into the walls of kitchens, bathrooms and laundries; and grey water recycling.

“Being able to store rainwater and to recycle greywater will become a more serious issue in future,” Walker says, “and these systems we have incorporated don’t take up any precious outdoor space.”

Bricks – which are used for the perimeter walls, ground level flooring and internal stair – are the ideal construction material for these row houses because, in addition to practical qualities such as structural and acoustic performance, fire resistance, thermal mass and low maintenance, they offer infinite creative possibilities.

“In a more joyful sense, people can express their personality or sense of style in the façade of these houses,” Walker says. “In a project home, you might choose the front elevation, but in our design the front of the house is a canvas that can be used to express a million different possibilities using bricks. While the row of houses may share similar proportions, the aspect that differentiates each one is the colour and finish that results from the craft of bricklaying.

“We imagine the streetscape as being like getting dressed for a party,” she adds. “The street façades become the ‘party’ clothes, an extroverted expression of personality – more or less flamboyant – while the interior may be more intimate, a place of sanctuary from the life in the street.”