Inside the eco conscious renovation of a Sydney home
‘Tricky problems’ seem to be a recurring theme for Eva-Marie Prineas. She’s not complaining, though. ‘The trickier the project, the more exciting, because opportunities unfold as we work,’ she says. ‘We often end up with unexpected resolutions, which can be a delightful surprise.’
A sense of the unexpected certainly prevails at Alpha House, the 1930s cottage in a Sydney conservation area recently renovated by Studio Prineas. From the front, the single-storey brick building retains its Federation-style charm and shapely terracotta-tiled roof, inspired in part by British Edwardian architecture.
At the back, however, a soaring two-storey extension is playfully clad in white-painted wooden shingles. It’s different, yet not out of place.
‘The brief was to create a family home that maximised natural light and vistas to the garden,’ says Eva-Marie. A front-of-house ‘kids’ zone’, with bedrooms for the family’s children and a dedicated lounge, retains the building’s pretty original features, while the new double-height living space is bright, breezy and intended to visually bring the outside in.
As well as vast sliding doors and pivoting windows, skylights capture views of a towering jacaranda tree. ‘It’s as beautiful in winter, when it’s skeletal and sculptural, as when it’s blooming in spring and summer,’ she adds.
Every part of the design was closely considered, including the environmental impact of its renovation. As much of the original build as possible was retained– including a garage reimagined as a pool house – while solar panels were added and water tanks placed in the garden.
Increasingly, this mindset (and the studio’s recent B-Corporation status) is as appealing to clients as the studio’s part-Zen-minimalist, part-beachy-cool aesthetic. studioprineas.com.au
