The well-known adage goes that good things come in small packages, but what the saying omits is that bad things often come in small packages too. Such was the case with House in Newtown II, a single-terraced townhouse in Sydney’s Inner West that Architect George was enlisted to reconfigure and renovate.
The three-bedroom property faced issues such as mould, damp and a lack of access to sunlight due to poorly considered and ad hoc extensions throughout its lifetime. Additionally, it had poor connection with the outdoors and inadequate insulation. “It was pretty run down, with all of the common problems of inner-city terraces,” says Dean Williams, Director of Architect George.
“There are so many of these poorly planned and unhealthy houses that exist in the inner city, says Williams, “and many of these houses need a relatively modest intervention to make them beautiful, lovely spaces to be in.”
House in Newtown II is a clear demonstration of this potential for transformation. The introduction of an inner courtyard between the old cottage and new extension at the back, for example, maximises sunlight. This flooding of natural light is enhanced through a series of playfully angled roofs and windows facing different orientations.
“The living spaces are large enough for the family of four, but they’re not overly generous – they’re only as big as they need to be,” says Williams of the reconfiguration. He firmly believes in focusing on well-designed spaces rather than large ones.
“Building small gives lots of benefits,” Williams notes – it’s more sustainable, take less upkeep and uses less material to build, to name just a few. Despite this, Australians seem to lean towards the idea that bigger is better. We have the largest average house size of any country in the world at 236 square metres, according to The Australian Bureau of Statistics.
If you opt for small instead, Williams says, “you can spend a little bit more money on quality rather than quantity. You can get nicer finishes, better construction, and better-quality materials which are going to last a long time.” A relatively low budget, then, doesn’t need to limit the impact of the result. “We can create really beautiful, robust homes using simple, common building techniques, and creating little moments that make the house unique.”
In House in Newtown II, these little moments include the raw concrete floor which wraps up the walls to create a low datum; framed views of the beautifully textured brickwork of the surrounding heritage-listed buildings; exposed structural details on the staircase which transitions from concrete to wood; and shadows which dance along the bagged natural white brickwork walls throughout the day as the sun tracks through the two courtyards.
As well zooming in on details, “you’ve got to use money in a smart way,” Williams adds. In this case, the front two rooms in the original cottage were barely altered “because they were perfectly fine.” The existing hallway, meanwhile, was simply given a new finish, linking it to the extension at the back. “Not touching the front section of the house was part sustainable decision, part heritage decision – but I think it was more so a budget decision.”
Given the ongoing cost of living and climate crises, this approach of treasuring the little details while having a holistic, realistic understanding of a site offers a way to create homes that are beautiful, comfortable and achievable. “Building is expensive at the moment and life is expensive at the moment,” says Williams. Luckily, good things can, indeed, come in small packages – just as long as they are well-designed.
