00:04The original building was built in the late 1800s or early 1900s. It was a workers cottage that had
00:12a few extensions that were built onto it. We found this site and this house about three or
00:19four years ago and fell in love with it immediately. It was 56 square metres. What we decided to do
00:27in
00:27our approach was actually take the cottage back to the original size, which is about 28
00:32square metres, and convert it to a cabin. My partner MJ and I use the cabin as a retreat.
00:41We get away from the city and we come to the mountains to climb. The house is located in
00:51Blackheath in the Blue Mountains, which is about two hours drive west of Sydney. Blue
00:58Mountains are known as one of the best climbing places in Australia.
01:06Blackheath has an eclectic mix of people from artists and climbers and long-term
01:11locals and that mix creates a really vibrant hub. When we found the existing cottage it
01:20was in quite a dilapidated condition. We spent quite a lot of time with the existing structure
01:26trying to save what we could and that happened to be the original late 1800s component of the building.
01:34The two bedrooms that were separated by the hallway was the original component of the cottage. On the
01:41back of the two bedrooms there was also a veranda with a bullnose roof. We converted the lounge room into
01:47a deck. One of the bedrooms in the hall were combined to create a kitchen and a sitting space. The
01:53other
01:53bedroom was converted into a bedroom, a bathroom and a laundry. For this project I was the client,
02:02the architect and the builder. Some of the things that were important for us is to design in a
02:09sustainable way to respond directly to the specific site. Designing a small space then uses less material.
02:18Financially it's more sustainable as well and we're able to invest then into the finer details and the
02:24craft in the building. What we focused on is trying to make the space as comfortable as possible, feeling
02:30luxurious, feeling warm, getting access to light and the beautiful view. We chose very simple materials
02:38and simple tones that would connect to the bush. We recycled all of the bricks that were on the site,
02:45spent many hours cleaning them, preparing them to be relayed.
02:50The arrival is from the street down a terrace garden. You enter the cabin through a custom
02:56black butt door, stepping onto a black tiled doormat which forms part of the fireplace hearth.
03:04The black tiles separate the living room from the bedroom. We have custom storage as you enter the
03:11house on the left. As you move from the entry into the living space the view opens up in front
03:17of you.
03:18The large clear glass window is positioned to frame different views as you move around the sitting space.
03:27The small window to the front allows a connection with the street but affords some privacy in the space.
03:35Another high level window in the north roof space provides much needed light and warmth into the cabin.
03:44Any of the movable panels which provide ventilation have security screens behind them to satisfy the
03:51bushfire attack level requirements. We've got a really comfortable two and a half seater
03:56couch that sits opposite a free-standing compact wood-burning fireplace which provides enough heat
04:03for the whole cabin. Our little cabin is a retreat for us and we decided that a tv would be
04:09too imposing
04:09in the space. We're using an LG ultra short throw projector that provides a great cinema experience in our
04:17little cabin. We keep the projector only a hand span away from the wall and it creates a really large
04:24screen for us.
04:27The living room and the kitchen share the same space.
04:30The kitchen is a single deep tiled bench with a hob to house a toaster and a kettle.
04:36It's a compact kitchen but it provides multiple food prep areas along the length with a Fisher and
04:41Pike or fridge drawer, two burner cooktop and a microwave oven combination.
04:48We've integrated all of the appliances, the drawers and the cupboards together to fit like a jigsaw puzzle.
04:56Some of the drawers are long and skinny, some are wide and flat to fit around those appliances.
05:04The sleeping room is separated from the living space with a large cavity sliding door.
05:10The bed is surrounded on three sides by walls and it's nestled into the room. Small ledges are provided
05:18to leave books and charge phones. We have storage under the bed along with a set of three drawers
05:25under the leading edge. The glaze component of the window is located to provide a view of the mountain
05:32from bed. The custom black butt robe is compact but it houses lots of drawers and plenty of storage for
05:40our personal items. We've made the small space feel bigger by allowing floor to run underneath the robe.
05:48We've got a floating shelf which we can use to work at at a computer but also have hanging storage
05:55underneath and a window behind it to allow cross ventilation through the bedroom.
06:02The bathroom's accessed through the sleeping space and another cavity sliding door.
06:08There is a floating basin with a mirror cabinet with lots of storage above it.
06:14We love how even in a small cabin we manage to fit what feels like an opulent shower.
06:20The fully tiled wall protects the toilet and basin from getting wet and there's an underfloor heating
06:27system that provides warmth to the space but also provides some ambient warmth that comes into the
06:33sleeping room. The laundry is hidden through a heavy external door under the front veranda.
06:40We separated the laundry from the internal spaces in the cabin to reduce noise.
06:48When you're designing small spaces and when we're designing small spaces in the future our focus
06:53will be on understanding the use of that space and understanding how people will experience the
06:59space and what they value in those spaces. You know creating and building small spaces provides a
07:06really good opportunity to be sustainable. For example we had to clean and restore two and a half
07:11thousand bricks. If we had to restore ten thousand or fifteen thousand bricks that probably would have
07:16become cost prohibitive. By reusing this building and restoring the existing building it meant we weren't
07:23using new materials to rebuild it. That's fundamental in a sustainability approach.
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