Restoring a Lost Narrative – Lockleys House by Architects Ink

As an excavation of sorts, Lockleys House sees the previous scarring and additions to an existing bungalow removed, allowing the original features to be celebrated. Architects Ink dissects the site into four main gestures that fulfil a multi-layered brief, restoring and embedding a lost narrative to the site.

In its densely residential setting, Lockleys House sees the careful peeling back of ill-conceived layers, additions and expansions added over many years, under no clear direction nor clarity. Beneath lay a gentleman’s bungalow residence, whose crafted detailing was begging to be celebrated. Removing the existing additions and the effect they bore on the original home made room for the home to breathe. Weaving in the newly established program then sees a multi-layered brief applied through a series of four distinct gestures – the ‘passive pavilion’, ‘active pavilion’, ‘connection gallery’ and the ‘landscaped rooms’ – each with their own relevant engagement with site. Architects Ink combines a sensitive approach to heritage together with an embraced landscape and considered proposal of the new as an expression of its own time.

Architects Ink combine a sensitive approach to heritage, together with an embraced landscape and considered proposal of the new as an expression of its own time.

Built by Krivic, Lockleys House is the intertwining of its newly considered parts with the existing. The ‘passive pavilion’ delineates the original bungalow home as a functioning and contained element on site – reinstating its purpose, it houses the bedrooms and has a retreat feel. The ‘active pavilion’ takes reference from a less formal insertion into a heritage setting, with key connections to the original and main dwelling maintained, but with its own language. Predominately glass, the pavilion and its generous overhang structure allow a clear viewing position and sense of immersion within the site, while referencing modernist principles. Columns are held in the interior, allowing the façade to exist uninterrupted, while containing the living areas as an open and connected space.

The ’connection gallery’ is a linear element that connects the many other gestures. It takes reference from the familiar Australian home’s sunroom, and its glazed encasing is an expression of that, while still connecting to a shared modernist feel. Sitting on the edge of the dwelling, it is intended as a disconnected experience from being immersed in the other areas, allowing a glimpse of the landscape in the circulation process. And lastly, the ‘landscaped rooms’ are expressed as four extruded vertical walls from the main home that frame the adjacent garden, terrace and pool.

Weaving in the newly established program then sees a multi-layered brief be applied through a series of four distinct gestures – the ‘passive pavilion’, ‘active pavilion’, ‘connection gallery’ and the ‘landscaped rooms’ – each with their own relevant engagement with site.

Combining eras, Lockleys House expresses time through a considered and stripped back process. Instead of opting for concealment and a unified approach formally, the principles of relevance and narrative reign and propose a home of multiple considered layers.