Considered Openness – Courtyard House by Maryanne Taskovski Architect

Injecting an open and light-filled central point to an existing Californian Bungalow home, Courtyard House celebrates the connection between inside and out. Maryanne Taskovski Architect extends the relevance of the previous materiality through a textured and handmade sensibility of the new.

Nestled into Kingsford, Courtyard House celebrates the differences between old and new, expressing a balanced nature through an open outdoor courtyard space. Bringing light and air deep into the centre of the home, a focus on passive and connected living defines the structure and allows the interior to breathe. As an existing Californian Bungalow style home, the rigidity and formal planning of its origins needed to align with a more contemporary way of living, one connected internally and out towards the landscape. Maryanne Taskovski Architect extends the relevance of the original through proposing crafted and timber elements that focus on the textural and the handmade.

Instead of competing with or altering the existing, the new addition sits as its own entity.

Courtyard House is true to its name, with the courtyard being the focal point of the building. Glazing allows an embrace of the open space whilst creating visual connections beyond the built form. Acting as a pause of sorts, the opening embeds a moment of reflection and disruption in the overall form, resulting in the addition feeling lighter as a result. Through the relief of the void space, the home recalibrates, marking the switch from old to new. Instead of competing with or altering the existing, the new addition sits as its own entity. On the other side of an open outdoor area, the additional form emerges as a bridge between the old and new, towards the rear landscape.

Focusing on recycled and sustainable materials, the new paving is comprised of demolished bricks from parts of the original home and have also been used internally in the composition of new feature walls. Whilst the original home feels cocooning and weighted to the site, the use of a light palette aids in enhancing the details in the leadlight, timber and plaster without distracting from them. The new space is a simplified version of the old, with the masonry from the original translated into polished concrete underfoot; a similar approach to furniture and a base foundation palette binds the past and present with shared volumes and scale.

The new space is a simplified version of the old, with the masonry from the original translated into polished concrete underfoot; a similar approach to furniture and a base foundation palette binds the past and present with shared volumes and scale.

Calm and yet emboldened with the familiar, Courtyard House extends the relevance of the original through shared approaches, seeing Maryanne Taskovski Architect embed a contemporary relevance and endurance throughout.