Lane Cove House by Lachlan Seegers Architect

Designed for a multi-generational family, the Lane Cove house, with its dramatic sawtooth roof, creates a distinctive silhouette in the wide leafy streetscape the area is known for. “I was fascinated by the history of the area, but I was continually drawn to the landscape, the point where the trees meet the sky and the presence of water from the harbour,” says Seegers, pointing out the datum lines where the sawtooth roof, painted in a metallic dark green shipbuilder’s paint meets the home’s cream brick rendered walls. While the roof form was beneficial for scooping light into the two-storey house, Seegers was also mindful of the established turpentine tree at the front of the property, changing the original roof design to accommodate this tree from a second living area/additional bedroom located on the first floor.

As the slope of the site drops away approximately 2.5 metres from the street, the house appears as single storey to those strolling past. Given the brief was to create a multi-generational home, Seegers created two self-contained suites, with a staircase linking the two and each one benefiting from its own access. The lower level includes a garage for two cars. Both levels include a kitchen, dining and living areas, along with bedrooms. While in many houses there are a series of hierarchical spaces or rooms, here each one was designed to take full advantage of the natural light as well as the garden aspects. These aspects can be enjoyed through the generous glazing as well as from the terraces, including a north- facing terrace that leads directly from the kitchen and dining area on the first level. Bedrooms, including the main, also benefit from being of generous scale, with each having its own distinct outlook to both the garden and the sky via the carefully orchestrated roof structure. The main bay window, located at the front of the house and a version of the traditional box style, frames the front garden.

While the front and rear gardens benefit from leafy aspects, the side elevations required protection from neighbouring properties – with a fixed aluminium screen extending the entire length on one side to remove the sight of a hills hoist washing line. Each manoeuvre inside also took the same measured approach – with a great understanding of what to include as much as what can be left out.

The main kitchen on the first level, for example, features an island bench, completely clad in marble, with the kitchen’s splashback reflecting the light from the sawtooth roof. The L-shaped kitchen also contains a wall of joinery that allows the functions of the kitchen to be removed. “I wanted the eye to focus outwards to the garden or to the dense canopy above,” says Seegers, pointing out the established eucalypts on the site.

Although the Lane Cove house isn’t river frontage, its aspect is as rich and layered – with the overhead canopy creating an element of surprise at every turn. And, as included in the brief, ‘a house that would be of architectural value’, both now and well into the future. This project has achieved all it set out to achieve - and considerably more!

You can find out more about Lachlan Seegers Architect via their website or Instagram. Story by Stephen Crafti. Images by Rory Gardiner.