BREAKING BLAND

Courting a handful of challenges with a clutch of bold ideas in hand, architect Scott Weston freed this Victorian terrace from a drab existence.

- JEAN WRIGHT

When architect Scott Weston met with a client in July 2016 he was tasked with the challenge of rescuing a modest two-storey terrace in Sydney's Paddington. The place had suffered years of neglect as a rental property and multiple ad-hoc additions of kitchens, bathrooms and a glass roof only amplified the disconnect between the house and rear courtyard. Added to those was a neck-breaking staircase that traversed the living and dining room, leading up to a pair of bland bedrooms.

There were other pressing problems, too, such as the neighbour's stormwater discharging onto the roof and the delicate issue of how to reclaim land lost due to an inaccurate boundary, while managing to keep everyone happy. Having long worked within tight inner city and heritage conservation neighbourhoods, Scott was up for the challenge and in 2017 he got to work on design concepts.

The owner's original thoughts had been a basic refurbishment for their children and minimum of three bedrooms. Scott saw the potential in a rebuild to create a serene modern living space to meet 21st-century life while honouring the home's heritage, and providing space, light and natural flow for the occupants.

"Eventually we all settled on the maximalist approach to totally gut the terrace, remove the roof and provide for an openplan rear addition with new kitchen, living and dining spaces for entertaining with direct views to the rear courtyard," says Scott, "then topping it off with an attic conversion."

Scott's design focused on creating a sense of spaciousness with smart joinery solutions maximising the storage space available in this slender four metre-wide home.