Elongated and Light – Gilbert by RADS

Responding to the existing urban fabric of Goodwood, Gilbert emerges as a contemporary home that fuses a nod to the past while firmly looking to an open and connected future for its owners. RADS reconfigures the orientation of the home to engage the respective aspects on site, navigating a long north-south directed allotment, focusing on bringing light deep into the home.

Sitting amongst an interesting collective of heritage styles within the inner south of Adelaide, Gilbert is a new home that draws reference from the nearby vernacular. In proposing the new form, the silhouette becomes a combination of the more linear and contemporary insertions nearby, together with references to the art deco icons remaining in the area. As a notable influence, elements from the Capri Theatre, which sits at the end of the same street as a preserved historic reminder, sees similar curves brought into the new. RADS re-orders the traditional engagement with the street to create a comfortable home.

Within the joinery, which helps to define the internal spaces also, planter boxes bring a permanent place for the living elements to add to the experience of the home.

As a balance to the other introductions to the site, the curves introduced offer a softening to the other edges and an ushering of movement throughout and within the home. The contrast between open and closed elements also adds to an embedded harmony created within the site, working with the natural elements instead of fighting against them. Having grown up in a midcentury home, the client also wanted to integrate key features from the modernist era, seeing expressive crazy pavers used to animate the outdoor areas and ensure a clear connection between the built and the natural is felt throughout. Within the joinery, which helps to define the internal spaces also, planter boxes bring a permanent place for the living elements to add to the experience of the home.

With a generous site, the resulting home is arranged within some 500 square metres, bringing together a mostly open, free-flowing brief. Comprising four bedrooms, two bathrooms and multiple living areas, the family home needed to re-evaluate the traditional approach to passive and active zoning from its entry sequence and instead align functionality with orientation. Stretching north south, the form is aligned along the western edge, allowing for better access to ventilation and creating direct openings in the process. With openings above in clerestory windows, unwanted solar gains are controlled through the architectural response to the site.

Having grown up in a midcentury home, the client also wanted to integrate key features from the modernist era.

Openly embracing of the elements, RADS combines familiar elements from both modernist and art deco styles within a contemporary methodology. By looking beyond its site for inspiration, Gilbert is a welcomed addition, connecting to both its inhabitants and its surrounds.