A sound investment

Last year, architect David Laybourn was phoned by clients Jodi and John Locke, whose Newtown cottage he had renovated in 2000. “David, we want our house back,” the couple implored.

With two children – Fergus, 14, and Romi, 9 – plus energetic Noodle the spoodle, the Lockes required an addition to their house “for sanity’s sake”.

John bought the 1890s house, which is next door to a warehouse and opposite a former school of arts, in 1988. “The house was run-down but John is a sound engineer and with no neighbours to disturb, he used to record bands here,” Jodi says. “He carried out some basic DIY repairs but the house was fairly primitive.”

Six years after Jodi moved in, they approached Laybourn. “Every other architect we spoke to said to bulldoze,” she says. “Only David was brave enough to take it on.”

It was a challenge, Laybourn says. “The house was literally falling down and the budget and the site were both tight,” he says.

To make the living spaces more functional, he reconfigured the ground floor and moved the staircase to the back of the kitchen. The first floor was extended to accommodate a bathroom, study area and a third bedroom where the corner casement windows meet without a mullion so as to maximise the outlook. The main and second bedrooms were enlarged and a deck was added.

“Timber framing and lightweight materials such as weatherboards and fibrous cement sheet was used to construct the addition and to reduce the loading upon the existing structural footings,” Laybourn says. “This avoided invasive and costly underpinning.”

To save money, the Lockes installed the insulation and did the painting themselves.

For this first stage, Laybourn was mindful to use materials that married the renovations with the original building fabric. However, for the second stage, at the back of the house, he felt he could do something “quite funky”.

This latest addition is a separate, small, two-storey structure connected to the main house by the rebuilt upstairs deck and the courtyard below. A single-storey laundry was demolished and a new laundry was built in its place with a rumpus room plus toilet above.

“The ground-level masonry visually responds to the original building fabric but we didn’t want the whole house to appear entirely the same so the new extension has been clad in zincalume-finished corrugated metal,” Laybourn says.

Its gently sloping skillion roof is a nod to its commercial and semi-industrial neighbours.

In this wonderfully idiosyncratic house, old and new interweave harmoniously.

“The house is very quirky, very Newtown and it suits Jodi and John’s ephemera,” Laybourn says, pointing to a retro TV converted into a goldfish fishbowl.

The house expanded from 124 square metres to 168 square metres after the second stage, providing each family member with their own getaway zone.

Conversely, the deck is a favourite congregating spot for the whole family.

Similarly in-demand is the sound- insulated rumpus room; with walls, ceiling and floor having sound-screen insulation, its acoustic properties minimise external noise entering and internal noise exiting.

When the children are older and leave home, John intends to turn the rumpus room into a work studio. But for now, the couple are simply happy that sanity has been restored. “Our house could have been an investor’s pull-down buy. I’m glad we stuck with it,” John says.

The house was the joint winner of the Marrickville Medal for Conservation 2010.

Aim

To make sense of an odd layout in order to transform the house into a home for a young family.

How long

First stage Four months.

Second stage Construction, three months (with nine weeks of rain).

Owners’ favourite feature

Jodi The fact that we now use every square inch of the house. And the laundry: it’s fantastic. It is the one part of the building that has surprised me. I can escape there; it’s like my cubby.

John The upstairs desk area. Even though we are surrounded by larger buildings, if you are at the computer during the day you are predominantly in the sun.

Insider’s tip

Having the odd beer on a Friday afternoon with your builders doesn’t go amiss.

Green points

Retention and reuse of the existing dwelling.

All doors salvaged from local skip bins.

Kitchen benchtop made from recycled timber.Large freestanding cupboard is from a TAFE science lab.

Existing mature trees were kept for shading.

Natural light and cross ventilation provided to all rooms.

Stage two complies with BASIX requirements for insulation, lighting and glazing performance. The first stage included similar thermal-insulation standards despite being designed before the introduction of BASIX.

Architect

David Laybourn, Bowling Laybourn Architecture, 9319 2787, 0438 931 927.

Builder

Any Building Services, Bert and Rob Groenendyk, 0412 447 209, 0412 157 552.

Costs

Stage one

Construction and consultant fees 122,000

Stage two

Preliminaries 4500

Demolition and excavation 3600

Underpinning 2000

Concrete 1000

Brickwork and rendering 5000

Framing, metal cladding, lining 13,500

Windows and doors 7500

Roofing 6000

Timber decking 6000

Steel and wire balustrade 2000

Electrical 2500

Plumbing and drainage 3000

Fit-out and finishing 5500

Fittings and fixtures 2500

Builder 6500

Architect 15,500

Consultants 7000

Total for both stages 234,400

* Includes $9400 of GST