About

Machiya House.

ArchiPro Project Summary - A unique semi-detached residence in Balmain, inspired by Kyoto's Machiya, featuring an open plan layout, a corner courtyard, and luxurious vaulted ceilings, all while maintaining a harmonious relationship with its heritage surroundings.

Title:: Machiya House
Architect:: Downie North
Category:: Residential/; Renovations and Extensions

Located on a corner site, this semi-detached residence presented as one of a kind in the Heritage Conservation Area of Balmain. Inspired by the traditional Japanese townhouses (Machiya) of Kyoto, its private and public domains co-exist, with layers of screening and curated openings to draw in light and engage the streetscape, discreetly hinting at the life lived within. Expanding very little from the original ground floor footprint, a new open plan kitchen and living spaces are organised around a corner courtyard, with floor to ceiling glazing maximising the perceived sense of space. A play of volumes; compressed servant spaces and contrastingly tall primary spaces featuring vaulted ceilings are luxurious and further the perceived sense of space within a very small footprint.

Photography: Katherine Lu

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Professionals used

Downie NorthArchitects

RESIDENTIAL ARCHITECTURE

RESIDENTIAL PROJECTS

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RESIDENTIAL ARCHITECTURE

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Downie North

Architects

Mosman, New South Wales

downienorth.com

Downie North. We design houses to be inviting, nurturing places for shared memories and heightening the every day. We are believers in less but better. We seek to create sustainable architecture that will endure and be loved well into the future.