architecture light trees

The brief was to design a light-filled extension to a 19^th century home in Manly, NSW.

The extension’s design was centred around the need for a light-filled open kitchen, dining and second living space that was to be connected to an existing garden at the back of the house. The design also sought to carefully screen views of neighbours without compromising on getting light into the new living areas.

architecture light trees

The extension was designed to have an equivalent sense of scale and grandeur to the existing house. To achieve this, the perimeter of the new building has been coffered to a higher ceiling space.

There are fixed blade screens (compressed cement sheet on custom steel brackets) on the outside of the windows to this perimeter space. These blades have been designed with the intention of screening out neighbouring windows as well as being positioned in a northern orientation to capture light and sun.

architecture light trees

On the exterior the blades are painted green, while on the interior they are painted white, as a reflection of how light bounces and moves through a canopy of leaves on a tree. Indeed, when the sun and light filter to the interior spaces, light bounces off the green colour and reflects this onto the white internal colour of the blades.

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