A few months back we began working on a scheme that looks to urban design as a model for generating plan. The idea came about as a result of walking through the New Rouse Hill Town Centre in January.
This location in Sydney's northwest is considered by many to be Australia’s best example of new urban design thinking. When it came time to consider the direction of this project I wanted see if it were possible to implement some of the ideas used in the Rouse Hill master plan, scale them down and use them in a single detached residential house plan.
I understand that we are dealing with two completely different scales however, as an idea for plan, it presents some interesting directions and observations.
Leon Battista Alberti in the 14th century introduced the idea of representation in architecture, ‘The small city is like a large house and a large house is like a small city’. What he means by this is how small parts relate to the combination of parts as a whole.
And so, this plan exists as a village of spaces feeding off a central laneway. The hope is that it makes the spaces richer providing an opportunity for both character through aesthetics and form, and experience in use and circulation.
Enjoy!
