Connected Refinement – Randwick Townhouses by James Garvan Architecture
Proposing their own template, Randwick Townhouses draw on a ‘fraternal twin’ approach, instilling a sense of shared yet differing connections between the neighbouring residences. James Garvan Architecture crafts the homes as finely tuned articulations that sit upon their own weighted plinths, focused outward.
Reaching upward from their masonry base, Randwick Townhouses sit in the same-named inner Sydney suburb and spread up over their three levels. The modernist -tyle forms sit as regular and contained formal elements on site, screened by their own metal veil on the upper levels and set upon their own cotrasting solid foundation. As a defiance from the traditional townhouse vernacular approach, where replication creates its own rhythmic engagement with the streetscape, the proposal offers an alternate approach. Connected in gest, materiality and overall form, the two homes sit alongside one another more as fraternal twins, than identical ones. Their similarities binding them, while their differences subtle and concealed, yet ensuring a sense of identity and individuality in the process. James Garvan Architecture creates a contained overall presence through a boldness in form yet breaks down the contributing parts through layers of transparency.
Raw materials such as timber and concrete are expressed both externally and internally to further connect to a sense of the natural, while still embodying a refinement throughout.
Conceived from the same DNA, Randwick Townhouses are built by Evolve Building Group and sit as a complementary pair amongst their existing context. Across their multiple levels, the landscape is then brought upward, elevating the natural and embedding greenery into the experience of the home, regardless of its engagement with the terrain below. Views out over to Queens Park remain as a key feature and allowing these uninterrupted sightlines was key to both the elevation and a sense of openness beyond the building edge. The encasing metal screening on both sits outward from the main volume, providing privacy while also controlling heat and light internally and allowing views beyond.
While connected, each home needed to feel separate through acoustic separation. The two volumes naturally then sit pulled apart from one another, hinting at their individuality. Ascending upward, each of the levels becomes more and more private in function, with the bedrooms placed on the upper level. The vertical separation creates a natural hierarchy, while also containing levels of passivity as one moves further away from the busy street below. Raw materials such as timber and concrete are expressed both externally and internally to further connect to a sense of the natural, while still embodying a refinement throughout.
James Garvan Architecture’s Randwick Townhouses cleverly integrate operable systems and mechanisms that respond to its context. The homes also reinforce the comfort of residents, instilling both a separation and sense of connectedness between them.
