Outward Connection – O House by Marston Architects

O House is conceived from a need to better connect the existing home to both its context and to encourage a more natural flow between inside and out. Martson Architects proposes a home that can open and close as needed, becoming both a place to convene and to live independently, as a reflection of family life.

On its elevated site, the house originally sat devoid of any street presence and with little consideration for how the surrounding exterior spaces could enrich the everyday experience of the home. Creating moments of connection and allowing for natural movement between inside and out became a key focus, reflecting both an outdoor lifestyle and that best embraces the climate of its surrounds. Located in Manly, the existing 1930s-era home is transformed to both occupy newly formed courtyard spaces and reorient itself to reduce the reliance on outside energy sources, ensuring its interior comfort. Martson Architects layers a balancing of warmth and openness by forming private and public areas throughout.

Flexibility was key to the success of the home to be able to adapt to the needs of its family, with spaces open to interpretation and that act to bring everyone together.

Removing an ill-fitting addition, House O has been rebuilt by Synergy One Building as a series of intersecting zones. Overlaying a new approach, a new roof garden connects to both the laneway and the new garage, while opening the interior up to the north and forming openings to a north-facing courtyard ensures light and air naturally fill the interior. Large and operable façade elements then pull back to encourage flow and optimise the newly formed orientation. The new pavilion-type form on an upper level frees up the lower level for the curated outdoor settings to be inserted and makes better use of the verticality of the site.

While the encasing and existing brickwork remains in place, as a nod to the original era of the home, the interior and its clean lines and more crisp junctions and connections reinforces a contemporary relevance. A palette of both cool and warm elements come together across the various levels, with timber featuring heavily as a textural surface against the smoother plaster walls and ceiling. Chevron patterning within the timber underfoot then hints at movement, animating the surface. Flexibility was key to the success of the home to be able to adapt to the needs of its family, with spaces open to interpretation and that act to bring everyone together.

A palette of both cool and warm elements come together across the various levels, with timber featuring heavily as a textural surface against the smoother plaster walls and ceiling.

As a holistically considered home, O House sees the architecture, interior design and landscape design all composed by Marston Architects to ensure a consistency across the site. The considered blending of inside and out and of open and closed elements ensures the home feels poised, as a result, continuing the legacy of the original home.