<translated>Old House</translated>

The house is located in a small side alley at the foot of Richmond Hill. In an area that is protected by heritage conservation, we find an eclectic collection of primarily single-storey workers' houses. On the site of the new building stood a single-storey wooden house - a structure in a considerably dilapidated state. In our opinion, the house had little or rather no heritage value; nevertheless, according to the assessment of the city heritage officer, the dwelling significantly contributed to the "street scene."

The task was to replace the existing house with a new two-storey family home; however, the client was very concerned about avoiding the time and financial impacts resulting from potential legal proceedings during the construction process. We were informed in advance that the position of the city heritage office would advocate that the new solution, in form, scale, and details, correspond to the surrounding buildings, which represent a heritage-protected "street scene."

Our office approaches tasks with openness - we often find solutions or concepts through considering given limitations. We embraced the idea of form and scale, but we questioned whether another polished figurative contextual form of the house has justification as a tool for achieving a certain illusion of the existing street front. Could the new solution somehow transcend this factual requirement? Could this dilemma be resolved by the idea of surrealist overlay (superposition), which would evoke a sense of memory?

We decided to consider an abstract form of appropriate scale and proportions dressed in unexpected material - a glass envelope. And we asked further: Could we explore the theme of context and memory through the creation of a "virtual" form?

We superimposed the image of the original house at a scale of 1:1 onto the facade as a kind of graphic overlay. The image wraps around a set of glossy panels, which correspond in form to the hipped roof (which predominates in neighboring buildings) and simultaneously reflect the sky above them. This solution also helps to optically reduce the extent of the upper level behind the panels. The house unfolds as a series of protected private spaces, which include a garden and views of the city. The robust lemon-scented gum (eucalyptus citriodora) is the only physical remnant of the original site, and the significance of this tree is emphasized in the interior of the house through the use of a palette of colorful laminated panels, which were sampled according to the shades of its bark and leaves in different seasons.

The project is a response to the difficulties that arise from designing architecture in heritage zones. The problems associated with the design process attempt to elevate to a noble yet ironic gesture that can open a debate about the issue itself. In this sense, it becomes both a critique of the aforementioned process and a surreal architectural solution that evokes the memory of the place and the historical context.