An ‘insect’ house that touches the ground lightly

A Newcastle house that started its life as a simple interwar cottage before being damaged in the 1989 earthquake is now an architectural treasure.

The award-winning home in the suburb of Maryland, designed by Curious Practice, is named Aru, meaning “insect” in the language of the Awabakal people from the coastal area of NSW’s Hunter Region.

The award-winning home in the Newcastle suburb of Maryland, designed by Curious Practice.Credit: Clinton Weaver

As with an insect, this modest timber cottage touches the ground lightly, hovering above its native garden.

Despite its diminutive size at just over 100 square metres, Aru has taken out top architectural honours, receiving a Hugh and Eva Buhrich Award and a national award from the Australian Institute of Architects.

Architect Warren Haasnoot undertook the redesign of his own home, which he was drawn to due to the convenience of the location – just a 15-minute walk to the centre of town.

“It’s become quite gentrified, with many young families moving into the neighbourhood with the attraction of the schools,” says Haasnoot, who not only worked with a small house (originally 96 square metres, it’s now 104 square metres) but also a modest site (10 metres by 30 metres).

A generous, enclosed timber-battened terrace leads from the home’s main living area.Credit: Clinton Weaver

The cottage came with what Haasnoot refers to as “scars” – poorly replaced windows from the earthquake and an ad hoc kitchen and living area at the rear that baked from the full intensity of the western sun.

On the plus side, the cottage, built in the 1930s, came with decorative plaster ceilings, timber floors and a brick fireplace, although the latter was plastered over.

Given its tricky orientation, Curious Practice designed appendages – including a generous, enclosed timber-battened terrace to the north leading from the main living area.

The front brick porch was also reworked with red bricks, in keeping with the period, along with timber battens for privacy – designed for bikes, prams or even parcels left by the post.

And to the south, there’s now a new main bedroom wing, complete with a Japanese-style sunken bath and open timber racks for clothing.

Haasnoot was equally mindful when extending into the back garden, oriented to the west, adding just a couple of square metres to the living areas and using large sliding timber-battened screens. He worked closely with landscape design practice Wattlebird Garden Designs.

A new main bedroom wing comes with Japanese-style sunken bath.Credit: Clinton Weaver

“The late afternoon light can be truly magical, but it can also be extremely intrusive, particularly during the warmer months,” says Haasnoot, who enjoys seeing the filtered sunlight animate, rather than stifle, the interiors.

Spotted gum was used extensively on the exterior and interior. The timber appears in the original two bedrooms that were retained, as well as the kitchen and living areas, in the joinery and wide skirting boards.

The island bench, with timber legs, has the feel of a freestanding table. “The chamfered edge of the bench was loosely inspired by the art deco motifs in the plasterwork,” says Haasnoot.

The kitchen’s glossy, green-tiled splashback and earthy coloured stone benchtop also reference the landscape. “The benchtop appears like an aerial shot of the dirt around us,” he says.

For Haasnoot, the renovation was about modifying the home’s orientation, capturing the breezes and the views, while removing the scars of the past.

An ingenious window seat in the front passage extends up a wall, where an inappropriately placed window was added in haste post-earthquake to make the house safe and weatherproof. Placing curtains as well as a sliding door between the main bedroom and the living areas offers different ways of configuring the additional few metres, with the option of extending space in the bedroom.

The kitchen’s glossy green-tiled splashback and earthy coloured stone bench top also reference the landscape.Credit: Clinton Weaver

For many who inspected this cottage when the property first appeared on the market, there would have been an arguable case for demolition.

But in Haasnoot’s hands, it’s been transformed into an award-winning architectural gem, and a prime example of what can be achieved when great ideas, rather than money, drive a project.

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