Swan Street Residence

The Swan Street Residence {alteration and addition} sits at the end of a mature tree lined street opposite a private girls school {St. Hildas}. The narrowing of the street and the no-through road resulted in an initial desire to create a project that was concerned with notions of discovery and retreat. The wooded street and a previous completed project on the edge of the city of Perth provided an opportunity to connect with the contextual physical quality of ‘landscape’ and a sub-conscious connection to living on the edge of a city, the desire to be physically connected whilst offering qualities that exist in outer suburban areas, areas of natural landscape.

Green light and folding light filled spaces dominate the interior whilst externally the concern is the formal connections to the existing circa 1920’s house and the surrounding context whilst exploiting subtle and exaggerated differences. The green light emitted strategically permeates the house, creating ‘green’ space while re-emitting this to the street at night, producing an effect reminiscent of the coloured glass over the entrance doors of neighbouring Federation homes.