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Glebe House

Glebe House, completed in Sydney by Nobbs Radford Architects, emphasises the structure and materiality of the elements that make up the addition in relation to the original Victorian era cottage.

The project of the Glebe House is not primarily focused on the connection to external spaces but looks inward with interconnections of cloistered spaces and selected framed openings.

There is a functional aspect in the forms and their proportions and that is to, at least in part, mitigate against the western orientation and an opposing small block of apartments that look across to the site which has improved both comfort and privacy for the owners. A fundamental goal was to create a family home that recognised the varying needs of the occupiers, spaces for children and adults with a flexibility for both retreat and engagement.

The brief evolved as part of the architectural process. The owners’ original requirements were for a new garage with roof garden and a reworking of the landscaping. As the site, original house and the growing family’s requirements were further considered it became apparent that the home was underperforming both in functional terms and how it represented the client’s sensibilities. The brief expanded to the house as a whole.

It was considered important from the outset that the new works drew from the original house as a basis for investigation, concrete as a heavy material was selected over framed construction in reference to the masonry of the cottage. An emphasis on vertical openings also creates an alliance with the original forms. The new works were kept low in order to be unseen from the main street however internally there is a consistency in scale and materiality that creates a cohesion.