Considered Integration – Stable House by Sibling Architecture
As a staged intervention, Stable House overlays a masterplan to reshape an existing site to suit its growing family and their evolving needs over time. Sibling Architecture combines a familiar vernacular with the existing narrative on site, forming an arrangement of dwellings that intercept and support one another.
Across the existing site in Forest Lodge, Stable House forms the initial phase of a two-stage plan to revitalise and reimagine an assortment of heritage structures with a contemporary sensibility. Flanked by terrace houses to the east and bushland to the west, the site retains elements from its history, seeing an overarching masterplan address and engage with the prevailing aspects. An existing cottage and stable structure both sit independently at either end of the site and a proposed series of insertions will connect them. By combining parts of the past with an intentional and intertwining future, Sibling Architecture creates a conversation across time.
Stable House sees the expansion of the original horse stable building on site. Situated at the rear, the remnant brick walls are retained as an anchoring element for the new to be conceived from, preserving a textural warmth. The raked roof structure falls dramatically to one side to follow the silhouette of the existing brick wall, as a reminder of the building’s history and as a nod to those who handcrafted the original. The form then becomes, most importantly, a conduit for the natural elements to eventually engulf. Attached to the primary form is a secondary trellis structure intended to allow creeping landscape elements to grow over time, wrapping the exterior. The screening is also intended to act as a privacy veil from onlooking terraces and from within at the same time.
With a sensitivity to what lay before, the new adds a modern comfort while also allowing the native flora and the existing elements to remain uninterrupted. As both buildings are expanded across their various stages, a curated garden setting is planned to then divide and anchor both, creating an almost public thoroughfare in the process; the interaction between the two proposed buildings, the existing and the landscape is key to how the site will holistically function. The interior of Stable House then adopts a playfulness through the use of select colours and materiality, sitting in contrast to the existing 1800s era architecture.
