The Shed

The Shed
© Justin Alexander

PHOTOGRAPHS
Justin Alexander

AREA
74 m²

YEAR
2010

LOCATION
Australia

CATEGORY
Houses, Refurbishment

Tucked away at the end of a lane in the Sydney suburb of Randwick, close to The Spot and in walking distance to Coogee beach, is a 74 sqm simple brick industrial structure built in 1890 by two Irish blacksmiths (brothers) to house their coach building business.

The Shed
© Justin Alexander
The Shed
© Justin Alexander

Over the past 120 years the building has also operated as a motorcycle repair shop, secondhand washing machine warehouse, a builder's workshop, and more recently a studio for local artists.

Having grown up in the area, one of the owners knew the building well and when it came up for sale in 2003, took a leap of faith and invested in a project that presented an exciting opportunity to develop a smaller, sustainable and more efficient way to live, while challenging the convention that ʻbigger is betterʼ.

The Shed
© Justin Alexander
The Shed
© Justin Alexander

SUSTAINABLE RENEWAL

The project responds to the city's growing need for adaptive reuse. meets the constraints of a limited budget and addresses the long term needs of owners who wanted a home.

That would reduce the use of traditional (costly/polluting)energy requirements – all without compromising the level of amenity or comfort, in fact improving it, while maximizing privacy and renewing/greening a forgotten lane way.

The Shed
© Justin Alexander
The Shed
© Justin Alexander

The building has a north-facing roof that has been set up with solar panels to harness the sun.

There are operable doors and windows from north to south to allow good cross ventilation so there is no need for air conditioning, while the thermal mass of the concrete floor holds the winter sun to warm the building in the colder months.

The Shed
© Justin Alexander
The Shed
© Justin Alexander

Along the southern wall a full bank of kitchen/storage on ground level, and robe/storage on the first level, has been installed as an effective insulator from the adjoining lane way.


The Shed
© Justin Alexander
The Shed
© Justin Alexander


The Shed
© Justin Alexander
The Shed
© Justin Alexander


The Shed
Section
The Shed
Situation


The Shed
Ground Floor Plan
The Shed
First Floor Plan
The Shed
Existing Floor Plan