Lean-To-Reimagined

We had a wonderful time reinterpreting this original weatherboard cottage, typical of Sydney's inner-west, into a home for our client's young family. The property had a first floor added in the 1980’s and a Lean-to structure housing the main living areas towards the rear. The limited site area meant that we had to work with the existing footprint as much as possible. The project therefore consisted on an extensive internal reconfiguration and a replacement of the existing lean-to with a dynamic new addition.

The relocation of the stairs brought several new spaces to life with a limited side addition, a fourth bedroom, a study in between floor levels and a new laundry. The family room at first floor was also much improved, with the north east corner becoming usable space from where to enjoy harbour views and the morning sun. At ground level a new north east facing courtyard brought light into what was a very dark corridor, the new bathroom and kitchen.

Towards the rear, the new ‘’Lean-to” is a playful re-interpretation of the traditional form. Part of the roof follows convention sloping down from front to back, whilst the other main section of roof slopes up from front to rear, increasing the ceiling height at the rear to 3.6m.

Joining these two main roof planes is a third triangular transitional plane. This transitional plane is a large skylight orientated to draw in natural light from the north. The timber ceiling is clad with a routed solid timber that has the profile of custom orb metal roof sheeting. This was chosen as a reference to the custom orb material traditionally used on most Aussie rear lean-tos.