When an empty-nester couple bought a terrace house in Darling Point, a harborside suburb in Sydney, they wanted to transform it into a contemporary, light-filled home—and take advantage of the spectacular views to Rushcutters Bay. “Our brief was to create a more functional and open plan for the home,” reveals Bronwyn Litera, architect at Stafford Architecture. “The biggest driver, though, was to bring in more light as the existing house was full of dark, pokey rooms and buried into the hill.”

The home had already gone through several changes from its original state—it had been converted into a duplex with the main stair removed, and an insensitive, square garage had been installed at the front. An additional challenge was the narrow site, which is just 24.6 feet wide. As a result, the street frontage is deceptively modest, with just the pitched roof of the garage and a simple gate visible. From this, however, the home dramatically drops away at the rear, with four levels spaced over a total height of five stories.

The full experience of the home begins the moment you walk through the street-level gate and down the stairs to the entry courtyard. “You enter the front door, and suddenly experience the openness and drama, the incredible views and gorgeous rooms, all of which is entirely unexpected from the modest entry,” says Litera.

A key goal of the transformation was to introduce as much space and light as possible. To bring in daylight, Stafford Architecture completely reconfigured the interior, returning it from the two apartments to a single home. The firm opened the ceiling cavity in the center to create a huge void, and a full-width skylight above the kitchen and main stair floods the depths of the home with sunlight.

From the unassuming gate at the street level, a stone stair runs past the garage to a lush courtyard created by stepping in the existing house. This unconventional entry leads to the dining room, which spills into the outdoor space and looks onto greenery and running water. The dining room continues through to the kitchen (which is at the heart of the home, as the client is an avid cook), a living area, and a generous outdoor deck.

“It was important to create connections through the length of the house, to make it feel more open and avoid any ‘dead ends,’” explains Litera. “We maintained a strong connection between the living, kitchen, and dining spaces, even though the plan is long and slim, by running the main stair in line with the length of the house, creating visual and physical corridors that connect front to back.”

Upstairs, the main suite is separated off by the central void to create privacy and seclusion. The other two bedrooms are connected by a “Jack and Jill” en suite bathroom, and a door at the end of the hall leads to the pitched-roof garage with a four-car stacker. A lift is tucked snugly next to the main stair, concealed from all the living spaces.

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On the lowest level, a second living space/rumpus room opens out to a terrace and pool deck through sliding glass doors, while utilities are located at the rear.

While the exterior architecture—both the original and the new—is composed of clean, sharp lines and angles, the interior celebrates curved forms. White ceilings and walls bounce light around the interior, while wide oak floorboards and Tasmanian oak battening in the joinery add warmth to the space. This visual lightness is contrasted with cast concrete forms—such as the vanities in the bathroom and the countertops—that seem to float despite their weight.

“The owners weren’t interested in a lot of ‘fuss,’” says Litera. “They—and we—wanted to use raw and honest materials. At special moments, we introduced unique materials, such as the monolithic quartzite island countertop that grounds the towering void above, and the recycled terra-cotta roof tiles in the dining room.”

The result of the renovation is an elegant, refined home that nods to its past as a conventional terrace house, yet is thoroughly contemporary in every way—and, despite its long, narrow footprint, there is an abundance of light and space throughout.

“The design is focused on connecting its inhabitants to the view, and on bringing light to even the furthest corners,” says Litera. “Although that intention was always there, everyone still had their breath taken away on walking under the central void for the first time—the pure scale of the space and the transformation from the pokey and dark terrace house that it was, is unbelievable.”

More from Stafford Architecture:

A Radiant Sydney Home Appears to Float Above a Sandstone Ridge

Project Credits:

Architect of Credit: Stafford Architecture / @staffordarchitecture

Builder: TC Build

Structural Engineer: Cantilever Engineers

Landscape Design: Marcia Hosking

Interior Design: Stafford Architecture

Stylist: Steve Cordony

Photographer: Anson Smart