Heritage Architects Sydney

Beyond preservation

Working with heritage homes is not simply about preservation or even restoration. It’s about understanding what should remain, what can be removed and what might be adapted.

Our role is to bring modern design elements, including passive design principles[link], into your heritage home with sensitivity, practical insight and an eye to maintaining these historical homes for future generations.

As heritage architects in stunning Sydney, we believe heritage restoration is most successful when it feels effortless. When new meets old without tension, and with the heart of the home remaining intact.

Understanding the context 

Heritage homes in Sydney aren’t just defined by age. They’re also defined by context. The sandstone of the North Shore, the ornate ironwork of the Inner West and the fibro cottages of the coast – each Sydney suburb has its own heritage language.

Our team works with the language of the home and the landscape it occupies. We carefully consider streetscape, orientation, materials and council heritage controls to create a final design that embraces contemporary living expectations, but beautifully showcases the home's origins.

Good heritage restoration in Sydney is about the continuation of a home's story, to honour its purpose, its origin and its architectural integrity.

Navigating overlays and approvals

Working with heritage-listed properties or those within the conservation areas in Sydney typically involves working with local councils to navigate overlays and approvals. At Ironbark Architecture we have experience working with all these council requirements and can navigate them for you.

We consult with local council/Heritage NSW and heritage consultants early in the process to get the most up-to-date guidance. And we can coordinate with heritage consultants to prepare Heritage Impact Statements where required. We’ll gather all the necessary information and documents and lodge your approval applications with the right parties to ensure that you have a smooth planning process and build.

Gunyah 1870

Situated in Sylvania, Sydney, Gunyah is a worker’s cottage dating back to around 1870. It was originally built on the grounds of Thomas Holt’s grand estate, Sutherland House, and now is the only structure remaining from that once grand estate. It is also known to be the oldest standing building in the Sutherland Shire.

After falling into disrepair, extensive heritage and engineering investigations were undertaken to determine which parts of the structure were original and significant, and to form an opinion as to the best way to restore and preserve the original cottage for the future.

Ironbark Architecture proposed a sensitive modern addition be constructed behind the existing cottage, that would be obscured from the street view. This would allow for modern family amenities while still preserving the historic appearance and curtilage of the building.

Beckton 1904

Beckton is a 115-year-old Federation home located in Sydney’s South and overlooking the Port Hacking River. Looking to modernise its amenities, the owners approached us to create a design that embraced the historic nature of the home while delivering a contemporary living experience.

We proposed a new pavilion to sit adjacent to the residence, and made with a dark steel cladding to melt into the surrounding landscape and allow the original residence to shine. The new and the old are linked together by a discreet walkway and covered alfresco courtyard which gives the family more space in the surrounding nature as well.

Judge’s House

Judge’s House, located in Cronulla, is a grand, interwar Californian bungalow built in the 1930s. When looking at the design for this heritage project, we applied the philosophy of allowing ‘the old to be old and the new to be unapologetically new’. It was this juxtaposition that created the sensitive and beautiful balance between the heritage nature of the home and the modern, contemporary lifestyle design.

The new additions to the home were separated by courtyards and linked together with a glass walkway, creating a dialogue between the old and the new that was light and light filled. Period details were restored or replicated to bring the character of the original home through all the newly designed elements as well.

The new addition is contemporary and distinct from the original while being respectful and complementary.

Pettit+Sevitt MKii

Perched on the edge of sprawling bushland, this updated 1967 Pettit+Sevitt MKII is a brilliant heritage reinterpretation that respects the original Ken Woolley design while adapting to the needs of a contemporary family.

The project originally involved removing a challenging 1980s addition to make way for a new, more sensitively designed addition that would support the needs of a contemporary family. The skillion roof is a nod to the distinctive roofline of the original design. Our team carried the distinctive Pettit+Sevitt features through the new design to preserve the home’s architectural identity, and reconfigured the internal layout to bring more flow and openness.