Dent Street Double | Curious Practice

Dent Street Double is a set of mirrored townhouses in the popular beachside suburb of Merewether where this typology of densification is tried and tested en masse—with little success. For our buildings with long, narrow sites oriented north toward the street, an interesting challenge emerged: organising the plan to create equally comfortable, light-filled spaces for daily coastal living in each dwelling.

A low-pitched gable roof stretches out toward the street, a gesture of protection and a reference to original weatherboard cottages of the area. Ground floor organisation provides access around each building, bringing a practical consideration of living patterns like coming home from the beach or shopping, doing the washing, relaxing on a weekend with family or finding a comfortable place to read. Overall, the strategy to produce two simple dwellings that had good amenity, were friendly to neighbours and supported a lifestyle congruent to place was successful.

Aru House | Curious Practice

Weatherboard cottages built in the first half of the twentieth century were often generous at the front and restricted at the rear, with their relationship to prevailing breezes, appropriate orientation and gardens being a low priority. Aru House (Awabakal word for “insect”) plugs-in a series of carefully balanced sensory amplifiers and connectors to just such a cottage in order for a long-ignored sense of place to re-emerge.

These sympathetic augmentations to the existing dwelling allow the building to become responsive to seasonal living patterns with a newfound sense of contextual sensitivity. All the new, and old, programs of the house overlap and borrow from each other, becoming more flexible and generous, enabling efficient planning and an ability to focus on quality over quantity. As a result, the value of the project is measured in joy and delight through the way materials are crafted, light is choreographed and edges are blurred.

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The Australian Institute of Architects acknowledges First Nations peoples as the Traditional Custodians of the lands, waters, and skies of the continent now called Australia.

We express our gratitude to their Elders and Knowledge Holders whose wisdom, actions and knowledge have kept culture alive.

We recognise First Nations peoples as the first architects and builders. We appreciate their continuing work on Country from pre-invasion times to contemporary First Nations architects, and respect their rights to continue to care for Country.

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