CASTLECRAG Inspired by the nearby waterways and bushland, Downie North creates a garden home that not only exists in conversation with the surrounding landscape but also provides a sense of retreat. Defined by a gradual reveal of interior spaces, Castlecrag Courtyard eloquently encapsulates slow living. Located on the ridge of Castlecrag, a harbourside suburb just north of Sydney’s CBD, Castlecrag Courtyard features a northerly aspect and a sloping site to the south. As such, the challenge of this project was about maximising sunlight and privacy whilst opening up to the 180-degree city and harbour views. The garden home features a north-facing courtyard, which allows natural light to enter the interior living spaces whilst creating private external areas. The house tour reveals an architectural layout that encourages circular movement, meaning one is always met with changing views. The home is made up of three levels, and, upon arrival, one is met with a bush path before entering the ground floor, which contains the main living and kitchen areas. A basement houses the amenities, whilst the upstairs has a small internal garden and the kids' and parents' rooms, which are separated by a bridge to foster a sense of retreat. The garden below invites nature into the home and features a natural swimming pool that encourages one to journey down. The interior design and materiality of the garden home responds to the landscape on which it resides. Base notes of red and green are used throughout, referencing the surrounding eucalyptus. Similarly, durable and raw materials have been chosen; sandstone, tallowwood, concrete, terrazzo, huge expanses of glass and Oregon timber ceilings feature throughout. On the exterior, tilt-up screens and a series of sliding screens allow the house to be remain open and connected. The garden home is considered a response to its locale and a beautiful imagining of Australian living and design. By ensuring the home is openly connected with nature, Downie North creates a sanctuary-like abode that is calm and tranquil. 00:00 - Introduction to the Garden Home 01:15 - The Layout and Walkthrough of the Home 03:02 - Landscaping Features 03:28 - Utilising Concrete Throughout 03:54 - Raw and Primal Materials 04:56 - Control of The Light 05:24 - Rewarding Aspects of the Design
Location: Castlecrag, New South Wales, Australia The Local Project acknowledges the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the Traditional Owners of the land in Australia. We recognise the importance of First Nations peoples in the identity of our country and continuing connections to Country and community. We pay our respect to Elders, past and present, and extend that respect to all First Nations people of these lands.
A big part was always about this slow revealing of space.
It's similar to walking along in your bushwalk.
So there's this sense of discovery and delight.
Castle Crag is north of Sydney and it's originally the land of the Camargold people.
It was originally masterplanned by Marion Mahoney and Walter Burley Griffin.
They really wanted to respect the ridgeline, the trees, the water, the sense of bush.
It's really provided a lot of inspiration for the architecture.
I'm Dan North.
I'm Catherine Downey and we're Downey North.
And welcome to Castle Crag Courtyard.
The site gave us this incredible prospect, you know, almost 180 degree views.
But then it was really important that you can also retreat.
We wanted to encourage this sort of spiral circulation
that meant you were always shifting relative to the courtyard.
And as a result of that, you're always getting these new views.
The house sits over three levels.
Making a strong connection to the garden was important at the front.
So you could just slide those doors back to the rumpus room and just run out.
Having the kitchen as a central space was another important thing,
that you could be in the kitchen and be able to see everything going on
because the kitchen is generally the hub of family life.
Upon arrival, you walk down this bush path that has been beautifully landscaped by Emily Simpson.
The ground floor contains principal living areas, kitchen, the dining, family areas.
There's a timber batten screen that really attenuates the view.
You're just getting these glimpses through the courtyard into the living room beyond.
To the west, we have the surface spaces of the kitchen, pantry,
little powder room that's tucked underneath.
But then we have an L-shaped stair that takes us from the ground level down into the basement,
to a long corridor, to a series of rooms that face south.
We have the laundry, the steam room and lower ground bathroom.
There's this very lovely light that actually comes through a cedar batten screen into the corridor.
Upstairs, we have another little internal garden so that every room gets an aspect.
The kids' rooms and the parents' room are separated.
There's a bridge that connects the two, giving mum and dad that quieter retreat space within the house.
There was a tiny little parcel of backyard that never got used.
By putting the pool down there, it really does encourage you to make that journey.
We loved this idea that the pool might feel a bit like a swimming hole.
There's no chlorine.
You have vegetation that essentially filters the water.
So it's a very gentle thing.
The client, when they came to us, said they wanted concrete.
That was the first material he said.
And that was almost it.
That gave us that base to start to draw upon the materiality.
When you look at a eucalypt, it looks green, but there's so much red in it.
So finding those base notes in the surrounding trees and bringing that into the house as well
was something that we were always thinking about.
Isaac and me have three young kids.
They didn't want surfaces that were going to be easily damaged.
And also, they didn't want paint.
The site told us that we wanted sandstone and timber.
So you have all these very raw, very primal materials
that are used and expressed to their true state.
Tallow wood is such a rich, warm color.
It always goes so beautifully against concrete.
There's honed block, terrazzo.
All of those materials were selected to bounce as much of the southern light through the spaces.
On this main level, this has a lot more porosity.
We've got these huge expanses of glass, the burnished concrete floors, Oregon board ceilings,
the balsamo stone.
And then as we make our way upstairs, that's probably the greatest shift in quality.
There's a wide range of options.
We have to control the degree of inside and outside.
We're quite playful in the way that we've done that.
The monsoon eves, the tilt-up screens,
and then there's a series of sliding screens all over the house
that allow you to open the house right up or close it right down.
To be able to come back here and know that all of the time that's spent
and the challenges, it's absolutely been worth it.
You know, it's just incredibly rewarding.
You have a family here that loves their home.
And the dogs.
It's lovely to see that the dogs have really taken to the house as well.
And we've come here and everyone's just relaxing and calm and happy.
That's the thing that makes me happiest.
