Carterwilliamson Architects
carterwilliamson architects is an award winning Sydney based practice. Our architecture is robust yet playful, finely crafted and thoughtful, responsive to client and brief and filled with joy and natural light. We relish the opportunity and challenge of working across a wide range of projects and scales, from residential to multi-residential, public and commercial and everything in between.
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Projects:
Cowshed House
Glebe, 2011
The old cowshed in Glebe provided a rare opportunity to preserve some of the character and charm of this eclectic neighborhood. The shed was simple, essentially a long brick wall that held the urban edge of corner and street and returned to house a few bedrooms in the place of the former stalls. It was the most basic of accommodation but was was well situated, hugging the southern boundary with provision for a private, north facing courtyard. Our clients share a vision for gregarious family life which is reflected in their new home. The spaces are truly ‘open plan’, each room connected to the others and to the sunny, green courtyard that acts as a natural extension of the living spaces. Wherever possible the fabric of the original cowshed was preserved, but sadly much was structurally unsound. What was rebuilt carries the spirit of the cowshed, composed from a palette of simple, robust materials; concrete slabs polished as flooring, recycled bricks left as face for the internal walls and the timber structure exposed. Oiled timber doors and windows and corrugated cladding hint at the Australian pastural vernacular now all but forgotten in this rapidly gentrifying neighborhood.
Upside-Down Back-to-Front house
Rozelle, 2011
The site of this 1880s workers terrace falls two stories from Hartley Street down to Starling Street at the rear. We formalised our clients’ existing living patterns by flipping the entry, and moving it to the bottom of the hill on the rear boundary, and as such the back-to-front nature of the additions was conceived. From the front door, stairs climb towards a protected courtyard fitted snugly between the house and studio. The living spaces on the central level stretch across the length of the site, from the sandstone lightwell, through the house, garden and studio, creating a generosity of space unexpected on such a tightly constrained site. From the gregarious living spaces a delicate hanging stair disappears up to the quieter sleeping rooms above where a shaft for light and breeze separates the form of the existing house and the new addition. Inserted into the tall pitched volume of the existing roof form above the front bedrooms hangs the voluptuous, timber clad form of the loft ensuite above. This intimate space sits at the highest point of the house and skylight windows frame views out toward the city.
Blues Pt Hotel
McMahons Pt, 2008
The Blues Point Hotel required an outdoor terrace that was enjoyable to be in, but respected the residential neighbours by moderating noise levels and maintaining privacy. The deck unifies the internal spaces of the pub by infilling the original L shaped plan and meeting the interior spaces at floor level. By opening up the best rooms to the patrons, and inviting these spaces to share in the joy of the deck, the hotel simultaneously feels both familiar, yet infinitely bigger. The curvilinear form of the deck meanders around a 30m tall Norfolk Pine, deflecting and absorbing noise, while responding to the wonderful curves in the art deco form of the existing hotel. The sinuous, inviting walls were designed to be lived in, embracing patrons and providing both open, exposed moments and private, secreted nooks. Windows punch slender holes in the tall walls to capture the view, blinkering patrons from the neighbours gardens. The playfulness of the deck adds to the relaxing experience of a lunch or a few quiet drinks on a sunny afternoon, or a night out with friends.
