House James by Berresford Architecture

House James was an alterations and additions to an existing single-storey cottage in the quiet and leafy suburb of Gymea, Sydney.

The Clients required low maintenance and simple living to suit their busy work and family life. House James engages with an irregular suburban lot to create a warm and sunny home that plays with both form and scale. Honest tactile materials have been used throughout in a simple but creative way.

The ground floor spaces are intimate and totally private from the street, connecting exclusively with the existing and established garden spaces. An adaptation of the traditional Queenslander’s wrap-around deck was incorporated to provide a transitional space between inside and out, acting as a place of arrival, congregation, and entertainment.

The first floor stands as a bare sculptural form atop the ground floor ‘plinth’. Whilst the windows follow a regimented arrangement subservient to the modularity of the panel layout, they frame a delightful sequence of ever-changing views, both of the neighbourhood tree canopy and the skies above.