Located in one of Sydney's inner west suburbs – Canada Bay. This house extension emphasises outdoor living with a strong connection to the external environment. Sitting on a confined battle axe site, the minimal street frontage is an added limitation to the design of the building facade. The house is situated next to Barnwell Park Golf Club, enjoys optimal views to the surrounding open green areas and picturesque bay in the distance.

The clients, a young couple, approached Studio DAO Architects with the idea of expanding their existing home, due to lack of space and impracticality. Studio DAO team sought to fundamentally rethink how to enhance the design: 1) to preserve the original ground floor structure and create two courtyard spaces that connect with outdoor environment, 2) to create a long horizontal form floating above the ground, and 3) to break up the volume of the building so that the massing is less solid and enclosed, to be more transparent and lightweight.

The ground floor retained most of the original exterior structural walls, while some of the redundant interior walls were removed to allow the living room, kitchen and dining to merge into a large, open-plan space. The clients wanted a green living space, we designed the house revolving around two courtyards. First, to the right of the main entry, there is a small, private courtyard located between the garage and ground floor bedrooms. The main courtyard is located to the east of the living and kitchen space, connects the green space of the neighbouring golf course, thus blurring the boundaries between outside and inside.

The second floor extension is long and narrow due to the council planning limitations and is oriented towards the north, maximizing the green outlook and embracing the bay view in the distance. This long horizontal form with chamfered edges is cladded in passive aluminium shading screens and bands of glazing that invite views of nature. The upper extension space includes a living space, bedrooms and ensuites, maximising the cross ventilation and natural light from its elevated position.

The extension retained the original brick veneer structure, whilst the surface of the material was coated with an irregular white paint texture to provide a contemporary architectural form. The exterior walls of the entrance feature, a raw stacked sandstone wall, with a timber lined ceiling extending to the soffit and floor slabs, creating a refined and robust look and feel. The upper floor features external fibre cement panels and aluminium privacy and shading screens with a dark log texture, a treatment that adds ventilation and ever-changing shadows within.