Sculpted Finishing – Grove House by Clayton Orszaczky

Responding to the site with intention, Grove House sees the remedying of an existing addition to enhance the experience of the home while opening to the rear. Clayton Orszaczky uses concrete as a sculptural agent to carve the new additional form, guided by movement, functionality and orientation.

Like many similar heritage homes, the additions that are conceived with good intent over time need to evolve to both align with contemporary life and in response to the natural elements. Grove House is one such example, where its previous addition did little for improving the interior quality of home. Its glass encasing façade became both a scorching sunroom in summer and a lightly walled cold glass box in winter. In addressing the need to suitably extend the existing floor area to the rear and to make better use of the inherited outer shell, the addition was removed and replaced with a much more suited resolve. In its place, Clayton Orszaczky proposes a weighted form that becomes both a statement in permanence and one of considered openness.

Build by Out’N’Up with joinery by DSK Kitchens, Grove House draws from the original crafted intent of the heritage home to the front of the site and extends outward into the rear yard. A similar handmade approach is brought into the new, through a more contemporary lens that focuses on longevity and embedding a sense of connection. As an optimisation of the orientation and access to the natural elements, an overhang structure stretches out from the main form to create a covered outdoor area, both controlling the incoming sun and directing solar gains throughout the year. In ensuring a suitability to place, being able to open the home for both ventilation and natural cooling is key to life in Sydney, and despite being located within the heritage-rich Woollahra, with all the limitations that that brings, these principles passive-solar design principles are key how the home functions.

While many additions aim to blend into the existing, Grove House celebrates the differences between old and new. With a similar heft expressed with both – the original being brick and stone and the addition being made from off-form concrete and glass – the differences are celebrated in their own ways. Both grounding the home in place, the approaches speak to the time of their inception and reflect the technology and interpretation of available innovation. Enviably, the home is a free-standing structure, and in its rarity, the addition needed to represent an equally special response. Through a curved and flowing form, the addition adds an organic sensibility as the addition addresses the landscape and creates a soft transition between inside and out.

Through focusing on light, Grove House opens generously and embraces the elements while turning its back on the less appealing westerly aspect. Clayton Orszaczky ensures the paving of a veritable future path for its owners, as they embark on adding their own mark to the story of the home and its lineage.