North Adelaide Residence

North Adelaide Residence is a renovation of an existing house in North Adelaide, South Australia. The work was carried out as a single process — design and construction held under one standard — so the intent set on the drawing board reached built form without dilution.

The street elevation was the governing problem. Renovation is constrained work: the existing fabric sets the rules, and every move has to answer to what is already there. The elevation was resolved within those limits — proportion, material and detailing brought into agreement with the house rather than imposed on it.

Holding design and construction together through a renovation removes the gap where ambition is usually lost. Decisions made in design are answerable in the build, and constraints found in the build are answerable in design. The result is a resolution carried through to the finished elevation, built to be measured against the house it belongs to.