Grinter
Middle Harbour Sydney NSW
Client: D & P Grinter
Matt Brindley – Project Architect
Trisha Brindley – Interior Design
In this project, the clients had come to Sydney from inland NSW. They had bought a simple federation bungalow in a lower North shore suburb. They did not like Federation houses and felt they wanted a country home more familiar to them. Our brief was to design a home for their growing family, which increased their living space, provided more outdoor living and separated the adults from the children.
The internal planning of the main house level was reorganized to create a new entry along the eastern side of the house in lieu of the original street front entry. This eliminated the corridor between bedrooms. The old corridor and one bedroom were amalgamated to form a new family room for the 3 children’s bedrooms.
The new entry opens into a new living/dining room with open fire. This in turn connects to a large curved balcony looking directly into a large coral tree. The new kitchen sits behind the internal stair zone.
A parent’s “retreat” was created cocooned within the roof space while providing end terraces from the main bedroom and study, with ensuite and robe space lit by clerestory windows along the roof.
The house’s vertical access was improved by reorganizing an internal single flight stair up from the garage at rear garden level with the new stair to the parent’s level directly above. This reorganization reduced internal circulation resulting in increased living areas.
For the client, they now have the “country house” ethos they remembered from their childhood.
