Description: Private Residence
Location: AINSLIE, ACT
Year: 2016
Status: Complete
Photos: Brett Boardman Photography
PUUTALO HOUSE - COMMENDATION, RESIDENTIAL ARCHITECTURE - HOUSES (ALTERATIONS AND ADDITIONS), AUSTRALIAN INSTITUTE OF ARCHITECTS ACT CHAPTER 2018
Puutalo House is a contemporary addition to a 90 sqm residence constructed as part of a 1940s experimental housing scheme. ‘Puutalo’ (Finnish for timber house) - originally a simple three-bedroom, single bathroom floor plan, with steep pitched roof and a small entry portico has been updated to include a modest rear extension.
The extension, which incorporates a new kitchen dining and living space, provides greater access to the rear garden and visibility to Mount Ainslie and bushland views to the east. An existing block retaining wall, as well as doors, decking and decking framing have all been either repurposed or reused in the construction of new elements. The project also employs low embodied energy timber plywood to clad internal walls and floors.
Puutalo House represents a considered alternative to the ‘knock down and rebuild’ response, maximising the home’s liveability for a contemporary Canberra family while maintaining historical value and character.