Erskineville House

Erskineville House is a compact renovation of the main living level of a two-storey terrace in Erskineville, Sydney. Josephine Hurley Architecture was asked to rework a kitchen, dining and living area that a previous owner had fitted out in dated, heavy colours, choices that made an already tight footprint feel smaller still. A limited budget kept the work inside the existing envelope, so the deep, narrow plan and low ceilings had to be resolved through new joinery rather than structural change.

The design sets out to let the shared spaces coexist comfortably while giving each room to breathe. Everyday essentials such as the laundry and fridge sit concealed behind grooved panelling that runs the length of the room, cutting visual clutter, while a rhythm of v-joint joinery panels ties the areas together and adds quiet texture. Open shelving lets the owner display pieces of personal significance, and a generous island bench, with a dining table built into it, blurs the boundary between kitchen and living.

A restrained, timeless material palette does much of the work on the sense of space. White walls, ceilings and joinery sit alongside Caesarstone benchtops, with walnut accents and the home's original timber floors providing warmth. The light palette reflects daylight deep into the terrace plan and helps the 29-square-metre footprint read as larger than it is.

Project size: 29 m2. Completed 2014. Two levels.

Architecture by Josephine Hurley Architecture. Photography by Tom Ferguson.