Sydney architect Joe Agius has always had an interest in courtyard homes—having experienced them on travels through Europe, North Africa, and China—but never thought he would have the opportunity to design one for himself in his home city. When he and his wife, Kate, began to look for a home to renovate for themselves and their two teenage sons, however, they came across a substantial Italianate terrace in a heritage suburb that offered an opportunity to bring this dream to life.

Before: Exterior

The home is located in the Toxteth Park Estate of Glebe, an inner urban heritage suburb that’s a 15-minute cycle to the Central Business District. “It occupies a corner site at the crest of a hill with a great orientation, and is in a charming street—it ticked many boxes,” says Joe, who directs COX Architecture. “Most importantly, it represented an opportunity for a contemporary addition configured in a way that would not ordinarily be allowed in a heritage precinct.”

After: Exterior

When the couple first viewed the house, their instinct was to save it. “A beautiful, Italianate terrace was hidden somewhere under the 70 years of neglect and aggressive boarding house modification,” says Joe. While they knew that returning the house back to a single-family dwelling was never going to be a heritage conservation project, they wanted to celebrate the “generosity and elegance” of the original interior spaces. It was also essential to consider how the contemporary interventions would be juxtaposed against the retained features.

Joe was keen to ensure that the new addition was clearly contemporary, with a lightweight appearance. As a result, the external cladding is a fibrous cement sheeting with exposed fixings. “It’s a cheap material, but assembled beautifully,” he says. “In Australia, it’s a material more associated with modest utilitarian structures, like beachside toilet blocks, and known euphemistically as ‘fibro.’”

Before: Entrance

After: Entrance

Joe was also fascinated by the idea of creating an adaptable home that evolves with major life changes. “We have a serious affordability crisis in Sydney,” he says. “Through the life cycle of a family, there may be the need to move three or four times—this is expensive and, frankly, painful for many.”

So, he designed his home as a prototype that is planned, plumbed, and wired to easily adapt to three different modes—a four-bedroom home for a mature family; two small, two-bedroom homes, each with a separate entry and outdoor spaces, that would suit two couples; and a medium, two-bedroom home with a separate, one-bedroom studio apartment that would suit a small family and an elderly parent.

Before: Lounge

After: Lounge

Before: Dining Room

After: Dining Room

After: Living Room

After: Kitchen

After: Courtyard

The house is organized around a central, north-facing courtyard—described by Joe as a “pinwheel that the house pivots around.” Every space on the ground floor other than the laundry/toilet and storeroom has a deliberate line of sight to the courtyard, and all the facades to the courtyard are glazed.

“Having committed to the courtyard idea, we had to then refine it and study the many plan configurations possible around it,” says Joe. “We looked to the traditional riad courtyard houses of Morocco—houses with lush, shady courtyards which have a strong sense of interiority, coupled with severe exteriors to street. We then layered other ideas such the notion of an ‘adaptable house’ and the somewhat contradictory idea of being able to open the entire living area direct to the sidewalk.”

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After: Stair

The upper level is split into two wings—each with two bedrooms and bathroom facilities. It is accessed via a stair that is located where the original stair would have been. This new stair has been designed with open treads that make a visual connection with the greenery of the courtyard visible from the entry.

Before: Bedrooms

Upstairs, Joe and Kate occupy the front wing, and their teenage boys occupy the new rear wing.

After: Bedrooms

Before: Master Bedroom Balcony

After: Master Bedroom Balcony

Before: Bathroom

After: Bathroom

“I would describe the home as calm, quiet, warm and understated,” says Joe. “This is generated through the clarity of the plan, the crafted detailing, the raw and natural material palette, and critically, the connection to sunlight and greenery.”

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Project Credits:

Architect of Record: COX Architecture / @coxarchitecture

Builder: Lachlan Lynch Constructions

Structural Engineer: Partridge Partners

Cabinetry Design: ProCab Joinery

Photography: Robert Walsh

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Before & After: A Blighted Boarding House in Sydney Is Now an Adaptable Courtyard Home