Located in Sydney’s lower north shore, Australian architecture and interior design practice Studio Prineas adapts a 1920s bungalow with a sensitive, two-storey addition for a young family.
The family of four first encountered Studio Prineas through Nat’s House—a Federation home reworked by the New South Wales-based practice in nearby Cammeray—and approached them with a similar ambition for their newly purchased Sydney home.
The family sought more space to support their evolving lifestyle, including a new swimming pool and an elevated rear garden. But with the property located in a heritage conservation area, “they never thought a two-storey addition would be possible,” Studio Prineas principal Eva-Marie Prineas recounts. The solution is quietly confident: a compact, carefully resolved addition that extends the home’s functionality without disrupting its architectural integrity.
Rather than building outwards, the studio removed a series of ad hoc lean-tos to introduce a second storey that sits lightly on the site, follows its natural slope and leaves the garden largely undisturbed. Clad in crisp white weatherboard and roughcast render in a soft, leafy green aptly named ‘banksia leaf’, the new volume offers a contemporary nod to the home’s crafted past. By building upward, Studio Prineas avoided deep excavation and preserved the integrity of the terrain—an outcome that would have been difficult to achieve with a single-level extension.
Operable glazing opens the interiors laterally to the exterior, connecting the home’s original and new volumes while drawing garden views and natural light into the kitchen, living and dining areas. Frameless glass creates a direct link between the pool and living area, freeform paving blurs the boundary between inside and out and a rendered retaining wall with integrated seating frames views over the sloping garden beyond.
The kitchen continues the home’s bluestone crazy paving underfoot, paired with pale grey dolomite marble, soft grey and green cabinetry and mosaic tiles in Wyldefel Green. Pictured: the Pioneer stool by Maria Bruun.
Pictured: the Karimoku New Standard wood dining table by Stefan Scholten and Carole Baijings, the Tacchini Additional System armchair by Joe Colombo, the Corker No. 1 by Herzog & de Meuron and Ai Weiwei, the JL341 pendant by Juha Leiviskä and the Artemide Dioscuri wall/ceiling lamp by Michele De Lucchi.
Pictured: the Tacchini Sesann sofa by Gianfranco Frattini, the Trizo21 Austere floor light by Hans Verstuyft, the Tacchini Kanji coffee table by Monica Förster, the ClassiCon Venus chair by Konstantin Grcic and the Inout 44 by Paola Navone.
Dedicated to preserving its heritage character, Studio Prineas retained the original layout of the front room, maintaining the house’s legibility and its connection to the past. This respect for history extends into the colour and material palette throughout the interiors, which were heavily inspired by the home’s courtyards and gardens.
The original terrazzo front entry is echoed in the ensuite, where terrazzo floors and walls meet ecru mosaic tiles, an olive-hued vanity and an inset shelf finished in a eucalyptus-green powder coat. These natural tones carry through to the textural green carpets lining the stairs and upper level, and continue into the pantry with eucalyptus-green mosaic tiles. In the kitchen, pale grey dolomite marble and soft green cabinetry offer a gentle reprieve.
“As with all our projects, this home delivers excellent amenities without over-complicating the house with unnecessary space,” Prineas says. “It’s all about thinking more and building less.” With this in mind, Studio Prineas incorporated sustainable features such as passive solar design, water collection tanks, EV charging and dedicated bike storage, reflecting a wider commitment to environmentally conscious design.
In Bonnet House, Studio Prineas show that respect for the past can inspire smart, purposeful design for modern family life.
The home’s green-toned palette reflects the surrounding courtyards and garden landscape. In the bathroom and kitchen pantry, eucalyptus-green mosaic tiles and green cabinetry extend this connection indoors.
Studio Prineas responded to the owners’ evolving lifestyles by adding a new swimming pool and elevated rear garden.
The &Tradition Thorvald SC102 by Bertel Thorvaldsen.
In response to the demands of modern living, Studio Prineas integrated sustainable features such as water collection tanks, solar panels, EV charging and dedicated bike storage.
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