Bronte is a charming beachside suburb Prime Form Construction, which has been a situated just seven kilometres to the east of member of HIA for some 20 years, specialises in Sydney’s CBD, its hilly streets dotted with building bespoke, architect-designed homes and period homes built in the late 1800s and renovations across Sydney. early 1900s. Although the Bronte house is the first time When Aaron Chow, builder and owner of Prime Aaron has worked with Sam Crawford Architects, Form Construction, was contracted to build an the collaboration bore outstanding results, with extension onto the back of one of the suburb’s immaculate workmanship delivering clarity and oldest weatherboard cottages, he knew he was in polish to the architect’s restrained, minimalist vision. for a challenging, and rewarding, few months. ‘Old timber houses just warp over the years. This oneThe solar-passive design translates into was challenging in its own way – it definitely required abright interiors awash with natural light little bit more work than most other projects,’ he says. The project was designed by Sam Crawford Architects for a young family. The brief, while The extension rises two storeys high from the relatively open design-wise, included three rear of the cottage. While the team was at pains imperatives: preserve the picture-perfect, historicallyto preserve certain elements of the 19th-century significant original home; open up the rear for extra aesthetic in the interiors of the original structure (the bedrooms and open-plan living; and maximise the original brickwork around the fireplace being one energy efficiency of the interiors. such design feature), the extension is unapologetically 62 HOUSING MAY 2018