Transformative Reuse – Graffiti House by Durack Architects

Graffiti House is both a family home and a considered study in urban reuse. In transforming what was once a warehouse, Durack Architects’ insightful rigour creates an introspective home that embraces the natural elements and utilises the previous generous volumes to create moments of familiar intimacy.

With the growing urban sprawl and consistent turnover of previous industrious and manufacturing areas near inner cities, buildings with different lives are being transformed into places to reside, and Graffiti House is one such example. Previously a textiles manufacturing factory, its bones express the charm and layered history of its past, which are then embedded into the resulting home. A celebration of time became an important part of the brief. Opening the outer encasing shell to connect to its adjacent park allowed a welcomed connection to an enviably close green space while also allowing the building to breathe. The overall approach takes form under an introspective and internally focused methodology, where the existing walls provide the envelope, and internally a more richly layered articulation of space unfolds. Durack Architects worked closely with the client to create a home that honours its previous occupation and crafted elements, while being befitting of the contemporary residential home.

The overall approach takes form under an introspective and internally focused methodology, where the existing walls provide the envelope, and internally a more richly layered articulation of space unfolds.

Located in Sydney, Graffiti House is built by Burmah Constructions and involves a considered and sensitive approach combining the old and the new. The three-bedroom home that emerges is one emphasised by its spatial qualities, and through a connection to natural light and ventilation, it becomes an open and convivial series of spaces. The overall warehouse form is carved into, creating a two-storey courtyard that faces onto Simpson Park and encourages an engagement outward. In the borrowing of the adjacent greenspace to benefit the internal experience of the home, the structure also gives back to the public realm by way of the commissioned artwork by Alex Lehours.

Being the home of an art dealer, the open and cavernous volume of the warehouse vernacular were both appealing and familiar. In the openness of the double-height spaces there is an additional unexpected quality to how the spaces engage with light and offer moments of pause at the same time. A robust palette connects back to the origin of the building where exposed brickwork, polished concrete and expressed metal detail are a celebration of the crafted hands that made them, and the history of the space as a place of making.

A robust palette connects back to the origin of the building where exposed brickwork, polished concrete and expressed metal detail are a celebration of the crafted hands that made them, and the history of the space as a place of making.

A punctuated form that engages with the natural and embraces its enviable siting, Graffiti House is both a sanctuary for its owners and a celebration of history. Through a layered approach, Durack Architects combines elements of time and place, connecting the home’s owners to its lofted and unique volumes.