Paddington Terrace

Project Information/Data

Date: Completed 2018
Client : Private
Location : Paddington, NSW (Cadigal)
Supercontext Team : Andrew Daly
Consultant Team : DBCE Structural, Made Carpentry + Construction
Photography : Adam Madigan

The project involved substantial alterations and additions to a classic Paddington terrace in Sydney’s inner east. The works including the demolition of the rear ground story, propping the existing upper level above and inserting a steel portal frame to create open plan living and kitchen area on the ground floor. The new open plan area connects to a paved terrace via full width bifold doors, extending the living area and borrowing the backyard to create contemporary indoor-outdoor living. A rear lane provides vehicle access with a concrete garage, including a large roof garden sheltering the rear living areas from the street and providing outlook over the roofs of Paddington and benefiting from a north-easterly aspect.

The new portions of the project are rich in material, featuring expressed Blackbutt timber in both solid, dressed applications, structural framing and in veneered boards for joinery applications. One boundary wall is clad in concrete-look (compressed wood-cellulose and cement) board with expressed Blackbutt batten joints, while opposite the existing boundary brick wall is expressed. In the open plan living area, the steel portal frame supporting the story above and demarcating the old dwelling itself left painted red, a trace of the past left present in the contemporary house.

In the portions of the house that were retained without significant alterations the material palette is more restrained, with new timber floors throughout, restored cornice, skirting and architraves to maintain the historical layout typical to Paddington terraces.