What do you do for a client that wants to downsize in place?

This well located house overlooking Sydney Harbour belongs to a middle aged professional couple. With two independent children who had recently moved out of home they wanted to refurbish and reorganise their house to prepare for old age. There were two key aspects to their request; relocate the living areas to the top floor to make the most of the harbour outlook, and provide a suite for an on-site carer or visiting children.

The project was designed to comply with CDC (Complying Development) requirements, concurrently offering a speedier approval and circumventing the often awkward and compromised negotiations that are associated with conventional DA approvals in such ‘high profile’ neighbourhoods.

The final arrangement includes three semi-independent bedroom suites, including the self contained carer’s suite; which doubles as a home office with independent street access.

We reduced the footprint of the house to increase and better utilise the rear garden without compromising or losing any of the original house’s accommodation in the final arrangement. Despite reducing the footprint, the houses’s utility and accommodation were dramatically improved through efficiencies in planning.

The final arrangement provides flexible living arrangements in an understated package consistent with the client’s wishes for an ‘unostentatious’ house with a calm and warm character.