Silvers Residence by Harry Seidler Architects

Harry Seidler is Australia’s preeminent architect. He is a national icon and internationally respected.

There are only a handful of Seidler houses in Sydney’s eastern suburbs. These seminal houses would be heritage assets in most other countries, however there is commercial acceptance for demolition and starting anew.

Benelong Crescent – or the Howard Silvers Residence as it was originally named – had been unsympathetically modified over the years. With many unresolved issues, it was one of Seidler’s unfinished works.

The design approach was selective restoration of the original building and finishing the house to the standard it deserved, stripping back the years of adhoc addition to reveal the mastery of Seidler’s style.

In addition to restoration, we proposed a new stand alone building, a distinctly contemporary addition that communicates with the original house. The new building provides spaces more suited to the family’s needs and to contemporary lifestyles, while resolving circulation and spatial issues.

Underneath these 2 buildings is an inhabited landscape. It connects the garden, pool and interior, creating spatial sequences vertically through the building, and from the front to the back of the property.

The 3 structures coalesce into a single family home, simultaneously a Seidler original – a historical artefact from Australia’s most masterful architect – and a freeflowing, contemporary home with a unique and powerful presence of its own.

Project team: Didier Ryan, Richard Smith, Tao Gatto, Yoko Chang