Designed by Australian architectural studio Innovarchi, The ‘Balmain Archive’ is basically an extension to a small cottage situated in the heritage city of Balmain. Australian architectural studio has designed the Balmain Archive.
In the context of the heritage area in and around Balmain this extension to a small cottage demanded careful consideration of the philosophy behind the new intervention. Careful analysis of traditional built forms, usage patterns and development codes led to a strategy of providing a contemporary interpretation of the ever-decreasing volumes of the typical ad hoc additions to such original structures.
Moving away from traditional usage patterns, the public penetration of the private realm has progressed from the formal front rooms to the more expressive confines of the back of the house and the garden-scape. The front now becomes private and the rear is a fragmented indoor/outdoor public space bounded by the allotment fencing. The new form grew out of the recognizable triangular shapes traditionally associated with pitched roofs.
It also represents fence and protective screen. As the scale and dimension of the addition reduces towards the back gate the external landscape is spliced into the informal semi-internal spaces.”
