Sydney – Skylit House

This 1950s bungalow, dubbed “Skylit House”, is a simple and deft alteration to a mid-century suburban bungalow in the bushy lower north shore suburb of Castlecrag, Sydney.
Developer driven suburban sprawl throughout Australia has generally given rise to houses that have little or no relationship to their site and are a product of market-driven forces, built to sell, objects that have landed indifferently on the terrain.
Designed by Downie North Architects, Skylit House offers a strategy to remedy this standard housing stock by simple gestures of internal reconfiguration without requiring enormous expense or increased building fabric. By a process of removing, rather than adding, Skylit House brings natural daylight deep inside shared living spaces that open out to the surrounding landscape. Conceptually it is simply a ‘coming together’ space- both of people and site.
The alteration focused on creating one large open plan space, housing kitchen, living, and dining, which key pieces of joinery create distinct zones. New north-facing skylights simultaneously illuminate and connect the interiors to its bushy context.
The material palette draws from the natural and built environment of Castlecrag: a clean palette of white, grey and spotted gum veneer references the various species of gum dotted throughout the headland, the irregular glaze of the ceramic tiles create reflections reminiscent of Middle Harbour and the reclaimed red brick edging the deck references the house and its neighbours.