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Situated in Sydney's Kirribilli, with a prominent waterfront location and sweeping harbour views, Zuster House certainly sits on prime real estate. The semi-detached brick cottage also exudes plenty of character with more than 100 years of history behind it. However, when Melonie Bayl-Smith of Bijl Architecture was approached by the owners to rejuvenate the property, she knew she had a challenge on her hands.
Built in the early 1900s, this federation home is located in a heritage conservation area where building rules apply not only to the main streetscape presentation of the dwellings but also to the rear, resulting in many bland and uninspiring additions over the years. Furthermore, despite the magnificent views towards Careening Cove and Sydney Harbour, the houses along this ridgeline typically have limited connections to their rear gardens and limited indoor/outdoor living opportunities due to the slope of the site.
Adding to these challenges, Melonie's clients wanted a total overhaul of the existing house while still retaining its traditional, federation-style character. "Crucial to the brief was a new rear addition that would cater to the flexibility and robustness of family life," she recalls. "My clients also asked that the materiality of the building fit with the idea of honouring the past with a new tradition. Hence bricks very quickly became both ours and the clients' first choice for the design."
PGH Bricks' Dry Pressed Architectural range in Black Beauty*, a dark and sultry, sophisticated colourway, was specified for the entire rear extension; a choice that delivered on several requirements, as Melonie explains.
"Charged with the double duty of meeting the strict requirements of the Kirribilli conservation area while also complementing its semi-detached neighbour Doorzien House, which we renovated in 2017, a masonry aesthetic was the ultimate solution. Not only does this allow it to form its own identity and provide continuity with the original dwelling, it also fits with the industrial, dark zinc cladding of its neighbour," she explains.
*This brick is no longer available, see our current Dry Pressed Architectural range here.
