Updating and adding to an existing Art Deco home on Sydney’s Northern Beaches, Rama Architects celebrate mid century styling and amplify it with contemporary rigour at Heritage Modern House.
Containing five bedrooms for a young and growing family, the practice has looked internally in order to equip the house with the requirements for modern family living. The interior has been overhauled, with many walls removed to create open spaces, with larger windows also allowing for a more open and fluid floorplan. The addition is distinct and clearly a far cry from the art deco flavour of the original dwelling, but is not a complete juxtaposition, due to the brick facade of the addition being similar in material and scale yet different in colour and form.
The home is a heritage listed dwelling, which tested the resolve of Rama and how they were able to make alterations to the existing. The construction companies involved in the build had to be mindful of how they removed parts of the building, with many propping up external structures and constructing new internal slabs and steel-framed structures.
The house is configured in a typical manner reminiscent of many two-storey suburban homes, with the living and utility spaces on the ground floor, with private quarters located on the first. There are entrances to the home on either side, with a kids living room off a hallway on one side and a mudroom on the other. Behind the hallway is the open living area that spills out onto the lawn. A large void has been created above the dining space, with shadows of the arched windows dancing across the white brick wall. The relatively neutral tonal palette with small blemishes of colour allow for a clean and sleek interior. Moving upstairs, the bedrooms and bathroom are all found off the hallway, with the one-car garage outside transformed into a studio.
Making considered alterations to a heritage listed abode, Rama Architects have been thoughtful in their approach to extending Heritage Modern House. Giving the existing infrastructure a much needed contemporary refresh, the home is open and inviting, with the new addition a welcome one, providing space and clarity for a family who will grow comfortably within its walls.
