Hanover Cottage Garden Room / Studio Ilk Architecture + interiors

Conceptual Framework for the Project – Underlying Principles, Values, Sustainable Initiatives, Core Ideas and Philosophies. Embedded in Nipaluna, Hobart’s historic Battery point Precinct, area and existing ‘place’ are heavily protected by the heritage provisions of both the local council and the Tasmanian Heritage Council. We had an intimate knowledge of the site conditions having completed a project for the same owner several years earlier. After this project, the client’s needs have evolved, with four children and elderly relatives all living together in the heritage house. It was critical to maintain and improve the connection to the garden and pool areas and to maximize the open interface to the courtyard, with a minimal increase in the built footprint. An existing ‘sunroom’ added in the early 2000s, with its white wooden cathedral ceiling, glass and stoneware floor, provided light and tactility that the clients wanted to maintain and protect. The analysis of these elements provided the conceptual basis for a space that reinforces and supports interpersonal and spatial relationships and the perpetual movement of a contemporary family. Warmth, light, family, connection, chaos, history and respect are concentrated literally and figuratively in this new space in the heart of the house.

Contribution to the lives of the inhabitants. A large and energetic family dynamic required further spatial evolution of Hanover Cottage. Functional elements used every day have been brought together to provide a nexus that has the ability to compartmentalize the rest of the existing rooms leading off the kitchen while simultaneously acting as

a space completely connected to the garden, completely blurring the delineation of interior and exterior. Bi-fold doors along the edges are opened more often due to the favorable orientation, and this multiplicity, adding amenity, and functionality and enhancing the connection to the garden and terrace pool beies the comparatively tiny construction footprint.

Relationship of Constructed Form and Context. It was important for the original ‘L’ shaped form of Hanover Cottage to be legible from the garden and for any new, iterative elements of the building to read as separate and subsumed within the fabric of the heritage. The new garden room connects to the existing dwelling but is contrasting in form, low and linear, crisp white conical edges and almost no solid walls mean that the new space reads almost like a separate building. There is a visual connection back to the original cottage from almost every aspect of the site.

Resolution of the program. Our clients needed a livable, robust, bright home with warm and tactile materials alongside a visual and physical connection to the garden. The operable edges of the new garden room and the reconfigured kitchen provide enhanced permeability and create an intimate knot, reinforcing the relationships and flow between the different areas of the house. The rich history is visible and tangible throughout the existing home, and this new space provided immediate comfort and connection to the heart of a much-loved and lived-in home, embracing the wear and patina of life and allowing life flows in every corner. and skull.

Integration of Allied Disciplines. The previously established trust and mutual respect between the builder, the clients and our practice provided a solid foundation for a smooth and collaborative process and a successful outcome. With clients remaining on site during construction, honest communication between all parties was absolutely paramount. Undertaken with great care and consideration by the builder, previous insights into the personal and historically important elements of the place and additional collaborative relationships with engineers, steel fabricator and journalists have resulted in a subtle interface and elegant at the edges of the garden room. .

Cost value result. The bricks, originally taken from a demolished outbuilding, were used as patio paving bricks after the completion of the previous pool project. These bricks have been repurposed again in the new garden room. Similarly, the existing wooden decking, removed to make way for the new garden room, was reused to form the new platforms that gently descend to the garden. The new works overcame efficiency challenges, and despite the seemingly simple and small footprint of the new addition, the improved livability and enhanced engagement with the large garden elevated the house far beyond the expectations of the modest project of the budget.