When the homeowners of Curtin Residence engaged architects Solid Studio to replace their Cottesloe house — just some blocks from the seashore — that they had a transparent motto in thoughts.

‘The shoppers’ temporary was “higher, no more,”’ Solid Studio director Stephen Hicks says.

The unique California bungalow had beforehand been prolonged to incorporate a darkish and low lean-to kitchen and dwelling space, with a tiny, unused storage sitting to the rear of the home. The couple had already accomplished a pool and landscaping on the rear, and have been pleased with the unique home, so Stephen and his crew have been tasked with renovating the small prolonged part between.

‘The venture is sort of modest in its aspirations,’ Stephen says. ‘It could have been simple to construct a double-level addition to the rear of the cottage, however our shoppers have been content material to maintain the home as a two-bedroom residence that’s compact and restrained.’

‘In a suburb of multi-level mansions, you possibly can’t actually see this little addition from the road, which we expect is admirable.’

As an alternative of constructing upwards, they took the chance to extend the house’s sense of area with a hovering pitched roof over the west-facing dwelling and kitchen, rotating the examine and laundry to the north. A collection of high-level home windows assist carry altering daylight into the home, whereas distinctive bronze fins on the outside shade the expanses of glass from the cruel Western Australian solar.

Stephen says the renovation was largely impressed by its location. ‘Towered over by big Norfolk Pines, the home has a ‘seashore’ really feel that we sought to intensify by bringing in views in the direction of the sky and the prevailing tree cover,’ he explains.

Inside, the homeowners requested for a ‘enjoyable area that didn’t take itself too critically’. The ensuing color scheme is sort of smooth and summery, with muted blue, musk pint, and sage inexperienced that picks up on their playful assortment of artwork and furnishings, reflecting the couple’s pleasant nature — in addition to the informal environment of the coastal neigbourhood.

Notes of heat timber make the house much more inviting, contrasting in opposition to the polished concrete flooring, metal construct and the endearing brickwork, each outdated and new. However Stephen says the most effective a part of the 73-square-metre addition is the way in which the temper modifications all through the day, due to the home windows alongside the east, north and west.

‘Early morning japanese solar peaks via in the lounge earlier than the protected northern home windows bathe it in daylight later within the day,’ he notes. ‘Because the afternoon solar begins to return round to the west, the deeply recessed western home windows drench all the pieces in Perth’s sensible daylight.’