Paddington House by Retallack Thompson.

Retallack Thompson has undertaken an alteration to a two-storey Victorian terrace in Sydney’s Paddington. Home to a growing family, the architects were approached to provide an additional bedroom to the current two-bedroom terrace house—no easy feat considering the heritage nature of the area.

With strict council guidelines, there was no possibility of extending the external built form. So, they shifted gears and the internal plan was reconfigured instead. Relocating the staircase from a previous early-90s alteration created an opportunity for the additional bathroom by taking space used by the first-floor family bathroom. With this clever manoeuvre, a wasted thoroughfare to the master bedroom at the rear was rechristened as a new ensuite while also accommodating the relocated staircase.

The new first-floor bathroom presents itself as a separate washing and toilet room divided by a custom stone basin. A sliding mirror unites the ‘rooms’ while sliding panels conceal these functions from the stairwell. A new timber-lined oculus skylight, introduced to the centre of the upstairs hallway streams light into the centre of the upstairs hallway. Joinery and ceiling linings stay true to the Victorian nature of the original house utilising traditional carpentry detailing and timber lining boards.

Outside an industrial ‘writers room’ stands in complementary contrast to the home. Bookending the external courtyard, at the rear of the existing garage, the additional area shapes the outlook from the kitchen and dining areas while offering a much-needed working space away from the primary realm of the family home. Posts, beams and window frames are constructed as a single element, hot dip-galvanised and brought onto the site as prefabricated elements. The simple solid hatches shield the functions of ‘work’ from the main house but allow for family interactions across the courtyard.

With a simple yet crucial reshuffle, the alteration of this Paddington House now accommodates the idiosyncrasies of a growing young family, providing all new sleeping, living and working spaces for all its occupants.

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[Images courtesy of Retallack Thompson. Photography by Ben Hosking.]