A Sydney Architect Deftly Revamps a 1920s Cottage to Embrace the Garden
Jeffrey Bokey-Grant gives his family’s traditional cottage an award-winning remodel that adheres to the original footprint.
Jeffrey Bokey-Grant gives his family’s traditional cottage an award-winning remodel that adheres to the original footprint.
When architect Jeffrey Bokey-Grant of the firm Bokey Grant first set out to remodel a 1920s worker’s cottage in Sydney’s Inner West that he shares with his wife, their plans were "much larger and more ambitious," says the architect. Then a nine-month deadline set in: the pending arrival of the couple’s newborn daughter.
The original brick worker’s cottage is estimated to have been built in the 1920s. "The house had since been victim to neglect and a series of questionable improvements over the course of its life," says Bokey-Grant.
Clinton Weaver
Bokey-Grant maintained heritage details like the amber glass above the front door and ceiling adornment.
Clinton Weaver
While the remodel’s goals were the same—to incorporate a third bedroom and better connect the house to the garden—they now had to accomplish those aims within the constraint of the home’s original footprint, which is 1162 square feet. Doing so enabled faster approval via a Complying Development Checklist and fostered a thoughtful plan that balances the home’s historic aspect with crisp modernism.
The architect also kept the home’s traditional organization around a central corridor.
Clinton Weaver
See the full story on Dwell.com: A Sydney Architect Deftly Revamps a 1920s Cottage to Embrace the Garden
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