Local studio Fox Johnston has renovated a heritage-listed modernist home near Sydney, stripping it back to an exposed concrete shell to create bright, open living spaces.
SRG House is a conversion of one of two semi-detached homes designed in 1972 and once the home of Australian modernist architect Sir Roy Grounds ? from which it takes its name.
Fox Johnston renovated SRG House
Overlooking the Parramatta River in the Balmain suburbs, the 1970s building was based on a concept sketch by Sir Roy Grounds, which was then detailed by the architect and teacher at Sydney University, Stuart Whitelaw.
Originally a two-bedroom home with a later garage extension, the building has been transformed into a four-bedroom home for Fox Johnston director Conrad Johnston and his family. Two additional bedrooms were added on the ground floor
The zigzagging plan of the home encloses a series of small courtyard spaces, overlooked by a grid of timber-framed windows between the pillars of the concrete structure.
"The original grid set up a powerful rhythm. How we unlocked the design is by interweaving old and new," said Johnson.
A white brick extension contains a living space and two bedrooms
The poor condition of many of the finishes required the structure to be stripped back to its concrete frame, which has been left exposed and supplemented by a new palette of materials drawing on the original 70s fittings.
The fixed glass and rotted timber frames have been replaced with cedar-framed, ...