Engaged and Efficient – Hampton Terrace by Hampton Architecture

Within the confines of an existing Victorian-era terrace, Hampton Terrace is re-sculpted into a cleanly considered home that staggers over multiple levels and optimises its outlook. Hampton Architecture brings the natural into the previously formal home through a curated series of openings that engage the whole site and its privately accessed courtyard space.

Sitting as part of the intrinsic fabric and character of Sydney’s Paddington, Hampton Terrace sees the repurposing of its stately former self to both inject relevance and reinstate its original heritage charm. The home emerges with a cleanly defined presence, with an emphasis on open connections, a muted palette and key furniture, artwork and lighting offering moments of the unexpected. Owner and architect, Hampton Architecture optimises the envied location and outlook from the upper levels and, through an extensive restoration and extension, extends the life of its previous lineage while combining modern references and an evolved focus on the handmade. Being the product of a multi-artisanal approach originally, the new is conceived through a similar spirit, emphasising detail and precision.

Owner and architect, Hampton Architecture optimises the envied location and outlook from the upper levels, and through an extensive restoration and extension, extend the life of its previous lineage, while combining modern references and an evolved focus on the handmade.

As a collaborative effort, Hampton Terrace is built by Revolution Building and Construction, with landscape by Bates Landscape. In the home’s reimagining, light and a connection to natural elements become a key focus as the new residence makes way for its growing family and their needs. Having a layered and deliberate outdoor green space both adds to the home and, in such an area, optimises its rarity. As the ground level opens through full-height glazing to the rear, a stepped garden and terrace space opens as its own private enclave. Secluded, the outdoor becomes a natural extension of the interior, allowing a natural flow of movement and ventilation. Lightwells are added to further allow natural light to penetrate the home and abate the need for artificial lighting.

Bringing an element of its past formality into its present, symmetry and a linear approach offer a framework for the new, while curves are introduced to soften outer edges. Warmth and a refined sophistication carry through the spaces, and bind the two eras, creating a home of shared purpose. Generous proportions are maintained and emphasised, together with new timber flooring underfoot, wrapping up the connecting and open central staircase, floating between the levels. With the eye drawn upwards and toward the light, an increased sense of openness is felt throughout and leads the journey through the home.

Being the product of multi-artisanal approach originally, the new is conceived through a similar spirit, emphasising detail and precision.

Through an emphasis on lightness, Hampton Terrace becomes a light-filled and perceptively generous home despite its narrowness. Hampton Architecture sculpts the next chapter.