Plus Minus Design was established in 2007.
The focus of the practice is building design. We are not interested in specialising in particular building types, rather we’ve found that thinking through ideas at one scale can productively inform work at another. Projects to date have varied from garage lofts through to high-rise, tower developments and this range of scale and type reflects our breadth of design interest and experience.
Urban design, landscape design and interior design are subjects that are happy distractions. While we have skills in these areas, we understand the limits of our expertise and gladly propose and welcome collaborations with other design and construction professionals when appropriate.
We decided to call the practice Plus Minus Design for a whole bunch of reasons. Wikipedia, at times, defines plus-minus as “the precision of an approximation” and we like the sound of that. We like thinking about approximation and tolerance in building. Some times things need to be precise or luxurious, other times it is not so important. Our first priority and objective for each project is to find an appropriate response.
Phillip lectures frequently and has taught architectural design, history and interior design at the University of New South Wales, the University of Technology in Sydney and Western Sydney University. He is an Adjunct Professor at Western Sydney University.
Phillip is a registered architect in NSW (NSW ARB 10101) and is a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Architects.
20 Arthur Street
Surry Hills NSW 2010
Sydney, Australia
This was supposed to be a modest extension of a modest cottage. I had imagined it would be an exercise in crude carpentry, much like the existing house, or like a Queenslander – robust and flexible (but in this case well insulated). Two things happened: we discovered the existing structure had significant termite damage; and the client (who studied architecture) became more and more ambitious.
Ongoing termite activity and damage determined that the house would need to be built from scratch. We decided to reconstruct and extend the existing cottage with alterations that exaggerated Victorian charm. This nostalgic approach recognises that it is as important to make a street as it is to make a home.
Our client is a skilled craftsman who wanted to experiment with specialized finishes and bespoke hardware. Details were developed and resolved on site as a collaboration between client, builder, trades and architect.
The plan doubles an existing grid of four rooms with a central hall to make what could have been a 6-bedroom house – although two rooms were later combined into one. This is a response to a market that always values four bedrooms over three, and three over two. Even recognising accepted rules of decorum, any of these bedrooms could be studies, libraries, dressing rooms, playrooms or sitting rooms – or used in combinations to create larger rooms or suites. It is simultaneously a 5-bedroom and a 2-bedroom house. A lockable acoustic door also allows part of the house to be comfortably sub-let or used by extended family.
Counter-intuitively, many smaller rooms can make a small house feel larger as one can never be sure how many rooms there are beyond the next. Each room has its own character: larger or smaller; lighter or darker; more or less open. One can live like a cat, finding the right spot to suit the weather and your mood. Only plumbing is fixed. More spaces allow occupants the flexibility to sometimes be together and sometimes to retreat.
The labyrinth of rooms at the street and attic levels opens to one large basement room that sits lower than the rear garden and is cut into expressed rock. Steps to the garden are part of a concrete bench that folds into a desk that then opens onto covered outdoor dining that sits below the driveway.
The role of the architect here was not simply to design the house but to control the client’s ambitions – an argument often lost. The house is full of invention. It is a strange house with strange details and strange connections between spaces. This strangeness will mean that residents will need to learn how to occupy the house. The way occupation is imagined has changed many times through a very long design and construction period and it will continue to change as the family grows and adapts.
Builder, Bright Build Constructions
Special Details, Kinkfab
Structural Engineer, Cantilever
Colour Design, Lymesmith
Landscape Consultant, Cole Cochran Studio
Hydraulic Consultant, Northrop
Traffic Consultant, TEF Consulting
Heritage Consultant, Weir Phillips Heritage
