Australian architecture firm Chenchow Little Architects has built a cornered residence made of arched cut-outs referencing to traditional Victorian houses on a small plot in Sydney, Australia. 

Called Glebe House, the 202-square-metre house is located in the inner-city suburb of Glebe known for its Victorian terrace houses and narrow streets. 

Elevated above a sandstone cliff face and overlooking the Sydney city skyline, the house is differentiated with large arched openings that enhance three dimensionality of the interiors with unexpected voids.

"The allotments in the area are small and the density of the housing is very high compared to the average Sydney suburb," said Chenchow Little Architects. 

"The site is overlooked by a Victorian terrace on the south and is elevated above 1980’s public housing to the north."

"The existing dilapidated cottage on the site was demolished and replaced with a new compact two-storey dwelling with four bedrooms for a family of five," added the firm.

The architects stated that the key design principle of the dwelling was aimed to maximise the available space on the small site within stringent planning controls and considerable site constraints. 

Regarding this, the envelope of the building is shaped by the simple offset of the minimum setback controls for each frontage. The height of the building is limited by the view-lines from the windows of the neighbouring dwelling. The resulting form of the dwelling has a flat roof and a wedge shape, which replicates the geometry of the triangular-shaped block. 

The simple envelope of the building has been articulated with arched openings, which reference the arched openings and entrance portico of the neighbouring Victorian terrace house. Unlike traditional Victorian houses, the arched openings in the Glebe House occur in both elevations and on the plan. 

The arched windows on the elevation align with arched cut-outs in the floor plate to create three-dimensional internal voids within the space. 

The double-height voids maximise light penetration into the centre of the dwelling and add to the sense of space. A spiral staircase follows the curved form of the main void.

The building has been designed with internal and external cladding of white painted vertical timber boarding which replicates the materiality of the traditional cottages of the area. The large arched windows utilise vertical timber mullions for structural support. 

The vertical mullions of the windows reinforce the verticality and rhythm of the cladding and help to abstract the facades of the dwelling.

A rear outdoor covered space continues the materiality and language of the interior spaces. The arched windows of the external space are unglazed and the vertical mullions are designed to provide support for climbing plants.

Ground floor plan

First floor plan

Roof plan

Section AA

Section BB

East elevation

West elevation

North elevation

South elevation

Project facts

Project name: Glebe House

Architects: Chenchow Little Architects 

Location: Sydney, Australia

Size: 202m2

Year: 2019

All images © Peter Bennetts

All drawings © Chenchow Little Architects 

> via Chenchow Little Architects