PEAS IN A POD

The design brief for the Dulwich Hill Residence called for the addition of an open kitchen, outdoor living space, dining, bathroom and laundry to an existing semi-detached period home for a young family with four children under four years old, including triplets. A bold conceptual approach has been taken to accentuate the bathroom and laundry as a feature to the rear of the home.

Large sliding doors disappear seamlessly into the egg-shaped bathroom and laundry pod, allowing the internal living space to extend outdoors. Concealed retractable flyscreens have been designed to completely screen the kitchen and dining space when the glazed sliding doors are opened. When both sliding doors and retractable flyscreens are completely opened, there is no visual sign of any doors and the sense of being in a covered outdoor living room is achieved. An extension of the kitchen bench leads to a BBQ area with spotted gum decking and built-in seating connecting the living space to the garden and playing area.

The existing pressed tin ceiling was salvaged and restored in the new kitchen, and dining spaces providing a unified palette and sense of connection between the existing period details and the contemporary additions. The project embraces the idea that everyday tasks, such as washing clothes, need not be hidden away in a dark room; the expression of these functions in a new typology can provide exciting opportunities for the creation of seamless indoor-outdoor living space.