When perusing images of the Bridge House by Kister Architects, the casual observer might be tempted to think that they were looking at photographs of a Very Big House. The reality is somewhat different, but the cause of the misperception is straightforward – and intentional. The facade of the house has been extended sideways with an expansive, curving, monumental gesture that inherently creates the illusion of immense size. The result is theatrical, a performative presence in the streetscape, and ever-so-slightly heroic.
The source of this curvaceous gesture comes from a studied response to the original house. Two bays of concave curves, up and down, defined the original facade. This was a delightful modernist motif that was conceived, back in the day, as more two-dimensional than three, in that peculiarly Australian way. These two original curved bays have been stripped back and joined by a stretched third bay, one that extends to a curve in plan, wrapping around the single-level main bedroom to the south.
