The brief for this unusual project in Stanmore included a spacious open plan living, a basement that didn't feel dark and disconnected from the above ground spaces, an incorporated garage, and several bedrooms for a building apt for multi-generation living.
The resulting volume of the combined spaces would translate into a four-storey building. The site is embedded in a neighbourhood where the prevailing scale of the surrounding buildings are bungalows or two storey buildings.
The ground floor was partially formed as a mezzanine and the central portion of the first floor cut out. This created a double- and triple-storey main space, merging basement, ground and first floor hallways into one impressive meandering, light filled core. We introduced a roof shape, which curves from the first floor of the front facade and caps the building at the second floor level at the rear. This approach avoided that the four-storey building would appear disproportionate and bulky in this suburban setting. The basement and split level ground floors were fitted with a continuous double-storey glazed curtain wall. This awarded the basement the same qualities of an airy and light-filled above ground space. A cantilever bridge over the rear basement patio connects the garden with the ground floor level.