Project: Derby House
Architects: Akin Atelier
Location: Vaucluse, Sydney, Australia
Area: 7,534 sf
Photographs by: Murray Fredericks
Derby House by Akin Atelier
The Derby House is a modern residence designed to encourage a kind of communal living within the family. It was designed by Akin Atelier, the studio behind the design of the Cloud House in Bondi, which bears some similarities in the openness of the interior layout.
Derby house is an alteration and addition to a former duplex residence with a wonderful aspect facing the scenic Sydney Harbour and City. The client is a family with 4 young children with a love of entertaining, outdoor living and connection with the landscape.
The design of Derby House pivots on the communal use of the family home & garden, cultivating family togetherness in a contemporary way. Ground floor rooms spill out into the landscape to blur the line of outside and inside living. After a meandering journey through front garden, past the garden room, pool and outdoor shower, the architectural programme cites a traditional floor plan where living spaces make up the ground floor, and bedrooms & bathrooms on the upper level. On both levels, sliding doors connect spaces, shutters transform traditional interior spaces into classic sunrooms, and nature is used as a guiding element throughout.
To complement the existing traditional bungalow, the new addition on facing the street is a modernist concrete framework with lightweight timber infills to create the building envelope. The site’s western aspect determined the inclusion of windows to span the complete eastern & northern sides of the lower & upper levels to maximise natural light and views throughout the home. Horizontal shutters provide privacy and the element comfort during the warmer months.
