Excelsior St House

Extension & Renovation
Heritage Consideration
Worker's Cottage
Narrow Inner City Site
Leichhardt NSW

Excelsior Street House workers cottage extension in Leichhardt NSW

Design Overview

Excelsior St House is an award-winning extension and renovation of a traditional worker's cottage on a narrow 108.6 m² property in Leichhardt. With a frontage of just 4.13 metres and draft conservation requirements affecting the original cottage, the design retained the historic street façade and roofline while introducing an attic master suite, contemporary rear living areas and a north-facing courtyard to bring natural light into the home.

DA & CC Approval - Inner West Council

More About This Project

The Brief

Heritage Cottage Extension on a Narrow Block in Leichhardt

Excelsior St House involved extending and renovating an original two-bedroom workers cottage in Leichhardt, Sydney's Inner West.

The property was particularly challenging, with a land area of just 108.6 m² and a frontage of approximately 4.1 metres.

The owner wanted a larger kitchen and family living area, additional bedroom accommodation, a bathroom and a private master suite.

The challenge was finding room for all these improvements while preserving the original cottage's street appearance and its relationship with the adjoining home.

With such a narrow building, bringing natural light into the centre of the house and maintaining privacy from neighbours were also major considerations.

The Design Response

Adding an Attic Master Suite Without Raising the Original Roofline

We retained the original front façade and roof form, concentrating the major alterations behind the existing cottage.

To provide the additional bedroom accommodation, we designed an attic-style master suite with an ensuite within the existing roof height.

This meant we could introduce another level without raising the original ridgeline or disturbing the appearance of the adjoining cottages from Excelsior Street.

We also worked closely with the planning department to address the heritage conservation requirements and ensure the new work remained sympathetic to the original home.

Bringing Northern Sunlight into a Home Just Four Metres Wide

One of the most important design decisions was introducing a north-facing internal courtyard.

Rather than having a long, enclosed floor plan with limited natural light, we opened up the centre of the home around a small private garden.

Large glazed doors allow northern winter sunlight and fresh air to reach the kitchen and living spaces, improving both natural light and ventilation.

The courtyard became an important feature of the home, providing an outlook and connection to the outdoors despite the extremely restricted block.

Creating More Living Space While Maintaining Privacy

We reorganised the ground floor to include a new kitchen, family and dining area, additional bedroom accommodation, bathroom and laundry facilities.

The upper-level addition was carefully positioned to reduce overlooking and overshadowing of neighbouring properties.

By avoiding upper-level windows along the northern and southern boundary walls, we were able to provide the private master suite without compromising the privacy of adjoining homes.

The result was a much more practical internal layout within a property where every square metre mattered.

Project Outcome

DA & CC Approval for Heritage Cottage Extension in Leichhardt – Inner West Council

We successfully obtained Development Application and Construction Certificate approvals for the alterations and additions through the former Leichhardt Council, now part of Inner West Council.

The completed renovation transformed a compact two-bedroom workers cottage into a considerably more functional home with an attic master suite, expanded family living spaces and a private internal courtyard.

Importantly, the original street-facing character was retained while the internal spaces were substantially improved.

The project went on to receive both state and national building design awards, demonstrating what can be achieved on a particularly narrow inner-city property.