Sydney’s ultimate trees are fine Port Jackson Figs. The pachyderms of the vegetal reign: fruit bearing, with dark glossy leaves and populated by many bird and bat colonies, they form the backdrop to “the new Twin Peaks” house.
Built on the bones of a solid 1970s Rose Bay home with an existing single roof ridge to the front and a substantial addition to the rear under a new second roof ridge; these design elements are the aspects that differentiate this new Twin Peaks from the original, Queen Anne, gabled Twin Peaks house.
Designed with a modern language of sharp edges, abstract forms, robust cantilevered canopies and oversized windows, this project is a contemporary version of the double gables, shingles and traditional glazing of the Darling Point project.
The children’s bedrooms are located under the first, larger, zinc clad gable. The second steeper gable contains the cathedral ceiling of the master bedroom. The double height ceiling of the master bedroom is matched by the soaring ceiling height of the entrance lobby and particularly in the giraffe sized spaces of the kitchen and dining rooms. It was an intentional decision to create this vertical architecture so that it corresponds to the pre-existing Pencil Pines that flank the swimming pool in the garden.
The main spine of the home is a central cascading stair, descending from the bedrooms at the top to the mezzanine entry landing, and from the entry flowing down to the middle level containing the study and rumpus room, down to the large living, dining and kitchen spaces. This gentle descent in the main living spaces culminates in four metre tall sliding doors that lead to the deck and pool area, and which slide away into the wall cavity to create an unobstructed flow into the garden.
Location: Rose Bay, NSW
Council: Woollahra Municipal Council
Design Architect: Luigi Rosselli
Project Architect: Jane McNeill
Interior Designer: Marianna Atlas
Builder: Grid Projects Pty Ltd
Structural Consultant: Rooney & Bye Pty Ltd
Joiner: Sydney Joinery
Landscaper: Rolling Stone Landscapes & EJM Landscape Construction
Recycled Brickwork: Cheap as Bricks
Roofing Supplier: Craft Metals
Roofing Installer: ARC Architectural Roofing & Wall Cladding
Window Dressings: Homelife Furnishings
Furniture Suppliers: Poltrona Frau & Ceccotti Collezioni
Photography: Justin Alexander & Jane McNeill
The fine edge of the zinc roof conceals gutters and downpipes and provides a crisp and sharp profile to the front of the house and front door. The windows and door are screened with vertical anodized aluminium battens to protect the from the hot western sun and the gaze of onlookers. Large fig trees line the side street and form the backdrop to the New Twin Peaks
© Justin Alexander
The front peak was existing, the second to the rear was added in the reinvention of this home in Sydney’s Eastern Suburbs. Below the white masonry gables the aluminium vertical battens screen the windows that face the street. The New Twin Peaks was approved by the much feared Woollahra Council in record speed and granted with praise from the neighbourhood.
© Justin Alexander
Under the vast canopy of the fig trees nobody would suspect the presence of double height halls and living rooms in this low lying home. Additionally, the garage door is barely discernable from the aluminium clad shutters and wall cladding. The side elevation was meant to appear private and discrete, restrained in advertising the inner workings of a family home, despite the long exposed side frontage. The base of the wall is constructed with a recycled brick face procured from Cheap as Bricks http://www.cheapasbricks.com.au/
© Justin Alexander
An elZinc roof in Rainbow Barron-brown, pre-oxided, supplied by Craft Metals and installed by ARC Architectural Roofing, is the best solution for the curved profile of the dual gables. The gutters are concealed in the roof form and discharged in hidden downpipes.
© Justin Alexander
The previous owner of the property, of Italian descent, planted a magnificent row of pencil pines, which the new residents were split over whether to keep or remove. Luigi Rosselli Architects mediated to convince them to retain the trees; only right for an architecture firm that has made its name through a love for pencils. Pencil Pines and Port Jackson Figs coexist as successfully as the 1970s and contemporary architectural styles do.
© Justin Alexander
Behind the side fence lies a hive of activity; a tableau of Sydney family life: curtains billowing, water splashing and the rotating blades of the motorised pergola.
© Justin Alexander
The pergola blades cast waves of shadow on the recycled brick façade.
© Jane McNeill
Two “DU55” armchairs by Gastone Rinaldi, a corner sofa designed by Jean-Marie Massaud (Poltrona Frau), a “Meltdown” floorlamp by Johan Lindstén, and “Cloud" wall units by Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec (both Cappellini); what else is required to indulge in a living room that overlooks a garden resulting from a design collaboration between Rolling Stone Landscape Design, EJM Landscapes and the Client. The recycled brick from Cheap as Bricks was a material chosen to provide a gritty and robust texture to the base of the building and contrast with the crisp whiteness of the top gables.
© Justin Alexander
‘S’ fold curtains by Homelife Furnishings provide the foreground to the theatrical stage set of the garden. The sitting room, with its rug by Robyn Cosgrove and large “Silenzio” pendant light by Luceplan is oriented towards this lush scene, no need for a TV or fireplace.
© Justin Alexander
Four metre high glass doors, by Award Architectural Aluminium, can be retracted into the wall to open up the dining room to the mild Sydney climate, or closed tight to provide a prime seat at the Moooi Zio dining table under “Saint Louis” pendant lights by Jaime Hayon for Ceccotti Collezioni, to witness the occasional drama of a Sydney storm.
© Justin Alexander
Architects have a tendency to fill their spaces with built in joinery, and it was tempting to do the same here to connect the kitchen to the BBQ outside, but this credenza by Roberto Lazzeroni for Ceccotti Collezioni is a good example of the added character and wealth of textures, colours and forms that a piece of furniture can provide to enliven a space, in this case the dining room.
© Justin Alexander
It was a coincidence and indication of a certain like-mindedness that lead Architect, Jane McNeill chose to design a “shark nose” edge on the stone benchtop and the Client, who undertook the interior design, selected a dining table with a similar shaped edge. Sydney Joinery Pty Ltd masterfully executed the overhead cupboards with V grooved doors, the joints barely discernable.
© Justin Alexander
So as not to interrupt the flow of the interiors, the outsized American fridges have been hidden away in the pantry behind a brass and bronze woven mesh screen, skilfully produced by Di Emme Creative Solutions.
© Justin Alexander
Set plaster wall finishes are usually applied on a cement render substrate. During construction, one can marvel this gypsum plaster finish, smooth and soft, and of a natural white colour with slight variations. Unfortunately, however, the current practice tends towards painting over the set plaster with an orange-peel textured acrylic paint that is as flat as a tack. Here though, instead of painting over the gypsum plaster, we gently (and without excessive buffing) applied a clear Porter’s Paints beeswax. The resulting finish has a beautiful lustre and a smooth waxy texture that is a pleasure to run your fingers over. A joinery desk by Sydney Joinery provides a handy home office space, accessorised with a comfortable “Ginger” chair by Roberto Lazzeroni (Poltrona Frau).
© Justin Alexander
The stair appears to have been designed with the express purpose of reaching the upper shelves of this Frank Lloyd Wright inspired “Albero” bookcase designed by Gianfranco Frattini. This cascading stair forms the main spine of the house that effortlessly links the four different levels; the bookshelves occupy a spot where one day a lift could be inserted if needed.
© Justin Alexander
One more flight leads to the bedroom level, another woven brass and bronze screen separates it from the front door. Luigi Rosselli Architects always employs the vertical space a stair occupies to draw light, in this case sunlight from a skylight, down to the bowels of the house. A “Meltdown” chandelier by Johan Lindstén adorns the space.
© Justin Alexander
© Justin Alexander
Sleeping under the new peak of whitewashed timber boards gives rise to lofty dreams, and a mix of tactile materials and the comforting embrace of the Roberto Lazzeroni designed “Mamy” armchair stimulate the subconscious memories of the dreamer:
“We comfort ourselves by reliving memories of protection. Something closed must retain our memories, while leaving them their original value as images. Memories of the outside world will never have the same tonality as those of home and, by recalling these memories, we add to our store of dreams; we are never real historians, but always near poets, and our emotion is perhaps nothing but an expression of a poetry that was lost.”
― Gaston Bachelard, The Poetics of Space
© Justin Alexander
Green onyx, chosen by the Client and supplied by WK Stone, makes for a textural bathroom vanity splashback.
© Justin Alexander