Balanced Openness – Iririki House by Madeleine Blanchfield Architects
In the works for five years, Iririki House is transformed into an expanded and openly connected family home that balances moments of calm escape and encourages socialisation. Madeleine Blanchfield Architects weaves the old and new together by celebrating differing materiality and forms, connecting the eras through a shared generosity and outward movement into the garden and enviable vistas beyond.
Capturing the essence of the past whilst catering to the needs of a modern family, Iririki House becomes the ideal home for its seven occupants. Located in Randwick, the project’s primary challenge was to retain and restore the existing heritage house that sat independently on the site whilst also creating generous living spaces that would feel simultaneously cocooning and open. Through a delicate balance of texture, tone and internal scale, Madeleine Blanchfield Architects weaves the structure’s eras through refined and considered detailing. Welcoming visitors through the restored front fence and garden, the entry is pushed further into the site, encouraging an interaction with the landscape as part of the core experience of entering off the street.
The separate side garden, a prized outdoor space, has been retained over the years and was vital in both maintaining the existing streetscape and the identity of the home. A journey through the meticulously maintained garden sets the tone for what lies beyond – the perfect blend of old-world charm and a contemporary elevation. This fusion of architectural eras creates an immersive experience once within. By enlarging the footprint, more meaningful places to convene and connect were created. Such spaces include the sunken dining space which recedes into the terrain and draws soft light through a skylight that breaks through the garden above.
Inspired by the original masonry elements, the new form is created using red bricks, which come together in a sharp rectilinear silhouette. The combination of texture and warmth is brought internally, leaving the crafted finish of the modular features exposed. Together with a mostly muted palette, the bricks are combined with timber and terrazzo flooring to bring a robustness and depth. Creating an uninterrupted surface between inside and out on the ground level, the terrazzo runs from the interior, out onto the deck and around the pool. In defining the old and new, differing tones of timber are used as a subtle yet obvious point of connection. Whilst the sculptural stair provides access across the levels, its presence within the kitchen and living space adds a moment of interest and separation, continuing a theme of simplicity.
Inspired by the original masonry elements, the new form is created using red bricks, which come together in a sharp rectilinear silhouette.
Iririki House reimagines the typical heritage response, grounding and spreading the new form across the site whilst maintaining connections to the landscape across its levels. Through a balanced approach, Madeleine Blanchfield Architects refreshes the heritage site through an enduring grace of both original and inserted gestures.
