have renovated freestanding brick cottage Henley Clays on Lower North Shore, adding to the existing house to both deliver additional rooms while opening the interior to the outdoors. Earth colour defines the monolithic new extension, with Benn & Penna using the material for both walls and floors.
For the latest instalment of our partnership with , we spoke to Benn & Penna’s director, Andrew Benn, about key principles, challenges and triumphs of bringing this project to life.
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The house is located in a heritage conservation area, and many planning controls made even the slightest deviation from the norm a challenge for the architects. “It took some careful convincing to explain the merits of the proposal,” explains Benn.
Thankfully the clever convincing paid off, with the project resulting in a new kitchen, living and bedroom spaces, while introducing more seamless connections to the garden. The additions are framed upon a weighty brick plinth that extends the sandstone base of the existing cottage, forming a series of landscape-inspired rooms that gently ascend through the home. A courtyard sits between the old and new house, allowing indoor and outdoor spaces to flow into one another from multiple directions.
Monolithic brickwork is key to the renovation, with forming the new walls and floors. Benn & Penna exactingly matched the mortar colour to the bricks in order to amplify the monumental, landscape-like qualities of the project. Openings were carefully arranged to puncture the mass of the building and ensure the cave-like interiors are awash with natural light.
“The mortar joints have been deliberately kept untidy to give the house a more landscape like appearance,” elaborates Benn.
The predominant use of brick gives Henley Clays a physical quality that is at once robust and earthy, at the same time creating a gentle and contemplative atmosphere throughout the home. Furnishings throughout by Sydney-based manufacturer Project 82 add to the timeless aesthetic.
A narrow, dramatically vertical space contains a stairwell that leads up to the private master bedroom. The ‘hawks nest’ of the house, the bedroom has prominent views over Sydney Harbour framed by a deep-set telescopic window.
Downstairs, the main living room is located between the rear garden and courtyard. A skeleton-like frame shelters the space, and gives the rear elevation an almost ruinous appearance from the garden.
In terms of stand-out elements, Andrew Benn makes particular mention of the seamless connections between inside and out, and the “tension created between the buildings robust earthy quality and the gently controlled quality of light.”
“Using the bricks so extensively was one of the most challenging design ideas to present – yet it’s become the most loved aspect of the building,” concludes Benn.
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