Finn Street House, stunning refurbishment home by Ben Walker Architects

Date of Publishing: September 8, 2022

Contents

Architecture Design of Finn Street House

Description About The Project

Finn Street House designed by Ben Walker Architects is a restoration and preservation project of an existing and significant heritage cottage. Indeed, the designer draws inspiration from the established materiality, reinterpreting the new through a contemporary lens.

The new work characterized by a “fluid” timber façade and a series of screens at the upper level that sculpted to respond to window positions and massing. The upper floor overhangs the North – facing ground floor glazing to provide needed shade in summer and sheltered coverage of an outdoor dining zone. In addition to this, operable and sliding screens to the upper floor windows and walls of the studio allow the residents to control required levels of shade and privacy dependent on seasonal conditions and living functions.

A new 2-storey wing added to the rear of the original cottage that accommodates kitchen/ dining/ living, rumpus space, master bedroom, and loft. Also, an external stand – alone studio also added that can be used as guest quarters or for recreation. The new wing provides light – filled North – facing living spaces that contrast the introspective qualities of the original house. Indeed, the additions provide flexibility in living arrangements and a clear and convenient connection to rear gardens and decks.

Moreover, the project has been carefully crafted by the building and joinery teams to provide rich interior textures that bely the sculptural massing of the new wing when it is viewed from afar. The project is a delight to discover when the unexpected new wing is spotted from the street.

The Architecture Design Project Information:

Project Name: Finn Street House
Location: O’Connor, Australia
Project Year: 2022
Designed by: Ben Walker Architects
Interior Design: Ben Walker Architects

The multiple decks and garden spaces become outdoor rooms, both as their own retreats and as open entertaining areas.

The additional pavilion volumes combine isolated internal thermal mass, from recycled Canberra-sourced brick, high performance glazing and operable façade elements to allow for the capture and release of natural heating and cooling across the extremes of the local climate. The new forms then wrapped in a ribbon formation of timber battens, each aligned vertically as they connect across the site and add a rhythmic quality to the site.

Interiors of this Finn Street House include re-milled timber flooring and ceiling battens and recycled Canberra Red bricks. Kitchen joinery includes mild steel flat plat benches and cupboard fronts to clearly articulate construction processes and hand – crafted elements.

Glazed hexagon tiles in wet areas and splash backs reference the honeycomb interest of the clients.

Renovated Tocumwal House, O'Connor. Designed by Ben Walker Architects, Built by Walmsley Building Solutions, Photography by The Guthrie Project. Occupying the traditional lands of the Ngunnawal People.

The Finn Street House Gallery:

Finn Street House, stunning refurbishment home by Ben Walker Architects

Text by the Architects: The project comprised alterations and additions to a 1950’s “Tocumwal” cottage in Canberra’s Inner North. The original cottage relocated to Canberra from a former military intelligence base built during WW2 in the southern NSW town of Tocumwal. It is one of a number of heritage – listed examples of the Tocumwal housing typology remaining in Canberra. The original cottage retained and refurbished, with minor modifications made to the rear of the house to accommodate a connection through to the new buildings.

Photo credit: The Guthrie Project| Source: Ben Walker Architects

For more information about this project; please contact the Architecture firm :
– Add: 80 Majura Ave, Ainslie ACT 2602, Australia
– Tel: +61 402 256 031
– Email: ben@benwalkerarchitects.com.au