Framed and Restrained – Framed House by Luis Gomez-Siu
Conceived around principles of framing, Framed House extends an existing semi-detached house to create key connections to its outdoor space and bring an influx of natural light into the home. Luis Gomez-Siu brings a refined and considered approach to the project through detailing and restraint.
Located in Sydney’s Vaucluse, the house of the same name sees the restoration and extension of its existing semi-detached dwelling create an open and connected family home. Through curated openings, both upward and outward, Framed House frames the vistas of its surrounds and invites them inward, while extending the inside out. Luis Gomez-Siu’s highly detailed methodology sees junctions intersect with materiality and open and closed elements with ease. The concept is driven by a sense of restraint, carefully binding the existing heritage elements with the new and contemporary without a feeling of opposing or overwhelming the original.
Extending outward toward the rear garden, a hood-like structure frames the open glazed threshold that houses the pivot full-height doors. Internally, a re-planning of the essential elements within the home allows for a re-configuration of the key connecting and active zones – the living, dining and kitchen areas – resulting in one combined open-planned space. Core to the re-utilisation of the rear yard as both a useful and deliberate space was the removal of the pool. Imagined by Wyer & Co, the landscape acts as an extension to the architectural gestures, the garden becomes the conduit between inside and out. Floating concrete steps extend the width of the property offering a linear connection and expression to the internal frame and acting as a green softening foil to the built form. The considered use of olive trees helps create dappled light and act as a shading device, encouraging interaction between the garden and the building.
Located in Sydney’s Vaucluse, the house of the same name sees the restoration and extension of its existing semi-detached dwelling create an open and connected family home.
The internal space has further been amplified through the removal of the existing flat suspended ceiling to the rear, revealing the pitched gable geometry it now expresses. This increase in height allows for an expanded sense of space and creates more surfaces for the natural light to bounce off of. The insertion of the skylight above the kitchen further adds to this illumination, carefully placed over the island bench to bring natural light deeper into the space. These two main interventions to increase the internal volume and open outward with the pivot doors allow for a full utilisation of the site, from boundary to boundary, and through the principles of framing, portals offer a mode of transport between zones.
Framed House shows the effects of restraint and a considered approach coming together to open up and connect an existing home. Curating and transforming the once restricted plan, Luis Gomez-Siu repurposes and proposes a generous and contemporary home.
