A Narrow Navigation – Darlington Terrace by Aileen Sage

Connecting to its rear courtyard space while navigating the tight and narrow inner-city constraints of its site, Darlington Terrace is an exercise in considered efficiency. Aileen Sage proposes a considered intervention that extends the original terrace home deep into the existing site, split over two levels to add complexity and depth.

A home for the architect’s parents, Main Creek House was inspired by the creativity of the family’s three generations, who have been based in the local area since the 1960s. The architect’s late grandfather Douglas Stephen was a renowned sculptor, fascinated by the Australian landscape. Douglas drew much of his inspiration for his work from the surrounding bushlands, with many of his pieces featured throughout the home. Main Creek House manages to capture the artistic expression of the family – a space that evokes a love of art, imagination and vision.

To the rear of the site a separate split-level addition provides the amenity needed, while a landscaped zone between the old and the new offers both a sense of relief of form, while also bringing natural light deep into the home.

Built by Verdecon, together with landscapes by Emily Simpson Landscape Architecture, Darlington Terrace approaches the site as a holistic whole, where the extents from edge to edgeare considered core contributors to the living space. With the close and careful dialogue between the landscape and the architecture needing to relate and support one another as a result, the concepts are conceived together. To the rear of the site a separate split-level addition provides the amenity needed, while a landscaped zone between the old and the new offers both a sense of relief of form, while also bringing natural light deep into the home. The rear landscape becomes its own outdoor room and a destination in the process.

Core to the new works is a keen understanding and respectful appreciation of the impact on the neighbouring dwellings. Living in such close proximity to anyone needs a level of humble mutuality, and with this approach the addition was conceived through an efficient lens, adding only what was required. The stepped element also adds to the quality of the space, adding volumetricallywhile not contributing to the potential overshadowing. The rear spaces are consolidated, while the front original rooms are retained and restored, creating a hierarchy between them, while the garage in the laneway is gifted its own rooftop terrace as an additional dedicated outdoor space.

The rear spaces are consolidated, while the front original rooms are retained and restored, creating a hierarchy between them, while the garage in the laneway is gifted its own rooftop terrace as an additional dedicated outdoor space.

Darlington Terrace is an embrace of the slight and narrow typologies that articulate our inner cities,andthrough an emphasis on natural light and a clever use of slope, Aileen Sage has tightly engaged its site and opened up with an idyllic modesty.