Chateau Architect Peter Allison takes you inside Clarke House, Turramurra. Finalist Custom Built Home at the 2013 MBA Awards.
Our client came to us with a property they had recently purchased, a large battleaxe block dominated by an existing tennis court at the centre. The existing house clung onto the edge of the site around the south-western side of the court.
The client's brief was for the tennis court to be retained, but a significantly larger home of at least 5 bedrooms and large living spaces was required in place of the existing.
The home was to have a resort feel about it which reflected the mature and exotic vegetation within and surrounding the property.
As a result of the brief and local Council’s own expectations, the entry to the home was located alongside the tennis court, away from the boundaries. This location allowed for a long glazed entry promenade which provided vistas of the tennis court and of one’s ultimate destination, the living spaces at the end of the tennis court.
The glazing along this space can be opened up significantly to create even more of a sense of an outdoor undercover promenade.
The space also provided opportunities for generous wall areas to accommodate the client’s collection of artworks.
The end of the 'promenade' opens out into a very large Family Living and kitchen area to the east, or to a more private and enclosed Formal Living space to the west. The Family Living space is directly north facing up the length of the tennis court and receives substantial beautiful tree-dappled light for the majority of the day. Because the depth of the site at the bottom of the court was limited, a deck was located to the side of the Family space and an enormous 2.7m high by 7m wide stacking glass slider was proposed to front directly onto the tennis court.
The intention is for the occupant to sit in the Family Living space and feel as if they were actually out on a deck with an unimpeded view of the court action.
The creation of external space around the rest of the house was also a high priority. Clearly there were going to be a number of important spaces that could not address the tennis court but still needed to have vista and access to outdoor space.
Thus the Formal Lounge has a courtyard which can be viewed and accessed from within. The Ground Floor Guest Room and Study also both have access to a private outdoor courtyard.
Because the ground floor of the home sits approximately 1.5m above the tennis court, a planter around the edge of the court effectively acts as a ‘plinth’ for the rest of the home to sit above. It breaks down the apparent height of the home. Further, the materials of the home change from masonry to weatherboard cladding at the upper window sill level, again to limit the extent of masonry wall face.
The top of the masonry wall creates a ‘waistline’ which wraps the entire house and helps meter the transition between the two storey wing of the house and the single level wing at the rear.
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