Burnley St

Located next door to +1 House, the clients for the Burnley St Residence approached us to replace their deteriorating terrace that they had owned for many years. The new design was to fulfill a modest brief to create a home for the couple that could also evolve and expand to accommodate gatherings with friends and visiting family members. 

The house was to be a home for the pair, but also a home for their community. To achieve this, we knew that “more space” was not the answer. The home needed to be compact and intimate, yet possess an openness and flexibility. 

Navigating the site’s narrow proportions, an unobtrusive strip garden runs along the northern perimeter of the living spaces, visible instantly as you enter the front door. Though a minor setback, this little gesture allows the house to seemingly extend and diversify its relationship to the outdoors, letting in ample light and breezes through a large glazed siding door. 

The spaces are designed to overlap or blend together allowing functions to expand and contract as needed depending on the time of the day, week, or occasion. For example the dining table becomes an extension of the kitchen bench while preparing an intimate meal.

When entertaining friends and family the island bench and dining table become a bar and cocktail area around which food and conversation takes place.

This elasticity of spatial boundaries allows spaces to be used together as well as enabling compactness or compartmentalization of functions when needed.