The original double bay fronted Beech Park House is a 2 storey over basement villa that was constructed in the 1840s. Although it was modified internally during the 1950s for educational use, many of the internal historical features remain and externally the villa is remarkably unchanged.

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The project consists of the subdivision of Beech Park House, into 10 residential dwelling units (6 one beds and 4 two beds) over 3 levels and the construction of a separate residential building, ranging from 2 to 5 storeys within the grounds of the original villa and containing 16 dwelling units (2 studio units, 8 x 1 beds, 2 x two beds and 4 x 3 beds).  A new courtyard garden is created between the two buildings.

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The new building is modelled in response to the two very differing scales in the immediate site context: (i) the apartments which form the edge to the street opposite and (ii) Beech Park House. The proposed new element mediates between the scale of both of these and establishes a new and improved landscaped setting for the existing house.

 

 

 The 2 storey linear block is placed parallel to Beech Park House with its low scale and overall height carefully considered to sensitively respect the existing house and its surroundings as well as to reduce overshadowing the new courtyard.  The taller 5 storey vertical element is intended to be read as a counterpoint to the horizontal element and address the street edge, stepping down to 3 storey where the new curved form compliments the bow-fronted bays in the original house.  All units are dual aspect with all balconies facing south across the existing park.