JJ House as part of Sydney's suburbs. Recovery of an old cottage

The JJ House project is an inspiring case study of how to intervene in an existing building, while establishing a new sense of individuality in traditional housing stock. A harmonious and playful example of combining old and new in Sydney's suburbs

The clients of Australian architecture firm Bokey Grant wanted a house to feed the needs of their young family. They wanted a sense of spaciousness, privacy and connection to nature and the sky in JJ House. The original red brick cottage, originally part of the 1920 Durrell's Estate in Lilyfield, Sydney's Inner West, had suffered neglect, carelessness and questionable interventions

To create the new JJ House, the designer is aiming to undo some of these interventions, sensitively stitching the building back together and celebrating its original architectural texture. The junction between old and new is recognized through a frame that seamlessly integrates them

The intention of the project is the preservation of the original form of the cottage; alterations are designed to maximize the latent qualities of the house. The minimalist approach to new interventions is a search for balance between renovating the house while maintaining a sense of belonging to history. Traditional light fixtures, "cathedral glass," tile and woodwork are transformed into details of a contemporary setting

The new focus of the cottage becomes the garden, which personifies in JJ House the central room toward which all interior spaces are reoriented and organized around it. A number of carefully placed sight lines take advantage of the garden view and capture natural light. Transitions between the pre-existing structure and the new reflect the new use of the cottage,but ensure that each threshold is deep and low so that the transition between spaces is a substantial and conscious experience.
The house is small in size: in just 108m2 it cleverly accommodates 3 bedrooms, a bathroom, laundry, a generous kitchen, living and dining area