Erskineville Studio 2

LOCATION – Erskineville / Sydney
YEAR – 2018
AREA – 50 sqm
CONSTRUCTION – 7 Months
PHOTOGRAPHS – Justin Alexander

SUMMARY
The project is for a rear lane structure which will be used as a studio/workspace on ground floor and a home office on the first floor. The new structure is conceived as contemporary response to the corner site by the use of a curved façade treatment into the rear lane and as a response to the studio found two doors down built by Pivot in 2013. The project uses contextual cues found in existing vertical timber fencing and the cedar cladding of the nearby studio as the primary façade treatment for the building. A distinct change in façade treatment using colour and materiality has been used to minimize the appearance of building scale. This strategy relates the two story structure to a human scale without the need for a setback and a restriction of floor space. The project is characterized by its high level external aesthetic detailing. The level 1 façade treatment is expressed with vertical cedar cladding as found at the nearby studio, whilst the ground floor façade treatment continues the vertical articulation in a more durable painted timber cladding. The ground floor façade treatment aims to also reflect the existing timber fence line both in articulation and as a literal gesture by extending it beyond the proposed new building and towards the existing house in an attempt to integrate the new building with the existing house and situate it calmly into its context.