Location: Mosman, NSW
Date Completed: 2007
Photography: Brett Boardman

This new dwelling is situated on a sloping site with limited outlook. Stringent setback and height requirements presented a trapezoidal shaped area that widened towards the north-east. The plan was devised in response to this, consisting of three articulated wings wrapped around a centralised open courtyard open to the north. A lower entry level was recessed and pushed into the sandstone site, with a lightweight framed and clad upper level projecting over it to provide protection to the entry and rooms below. The lower level is partly clad in sandstone, to organically integrate the dwelling onto the sloping contour of the site and reduce the apparent mass and bulk of the building. The upper facades present a solid, private face to the adjacent street and parklands whilst the internal surfaces open to the private courtyard at the centre of the dwelling. The floor plan has been carefully devised to express a gentle curve in the dwellings frontage to the street alignment. The upper levels facades consist of reverse  masonry veneer with the external skin of rigid rendered polystyrene for optimised thermal
performance.