Stockton Link House
Stockton is a small country town just across the Hunter River mouth from the regional centre of Newcastle, NSW. Despite often being confused as a suburb of Newcastle, it is an entity in its own right with a fascinating working class history. This ranges from its original European name of ‘Pirate Point’ for a load of shipwrecked escapee convicts who made their way onto the peninsula, followed later by various industrial influences including ship builders and coal mining.
Stockton Link House is located at the southern end of the Stockton peninsula, a stones throw to the small town centre and a short stumble to the local ferry. From the outset, STA and the client shared a mutual desire for an honesty of materials and form, a simple construction type to suit the project budget and a few flourishes thrown in to reflect the delightful eccentricities of the client.
STA were very keen to maintain and renovate the existing worker’s cottage frontage of the site, with the contemporary addition sitting below and behind the current roofline, so as to not impose upon the existing streetscape. Sea breezes needed to be captured and drawn deep into the home in both the existing cottage and the new extension for passive cooling, a tricky prospect given the north-south alignment of the site that is closely bounded by residences all sides. The existing cottage also desperately needed to be renovated to resolve the many spatial issues, and to remove decaying internal and external materials, as well as a series of lean-to structures to make way for the new extension.
Type | Alterations and additions
Location | Stockton, NSW
Country | Awabakal
Builder | Owner/builder
Engineer | Ascent Engineering
Photographer | Justin Aaron
Status | Completed
Complete | 2023
Recognition | Commendation, Residential Architecture – Houses (Alterations and Additions), 2025 (Newcastle AIA Awards)
Stockton is a small country town just across the Hunter River mouth from the regional centre of Newcastle, NSW. Despite often being confused as a suburb of Newcastle, it is an entity in its own right with a fascinating working class history. This ranges from its original European name of ‘Pirate Point’ for a load of shipwrecked escapee convicts who made their way onto the peninsula, followed later by various industrial influences including ship builders and coal mining.
Stockton Link House is located at the southern end of the Stockton peninsula, a stones throw to the small town centre and a short stumble to the local ferry. From the outset, STA and the client shared a mutual desire for an honesty of materials and form, a simple construction type to suit the project budget and a few flourishes thrown in to reflect the delightful eccentricities of the client.
Type | Alterations and additions
Location | Stockton, NSW
Country | Awabakal
Builder | Owner/builder
Engineer | Ascent Engineering
Photographer | Justin Aaron
Status | Completed
Complete | 2023
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1 Careful disassembly and peeling back of the layers of the original cottage so that the existing hardwood framing can be retained
2 Framing new windows in the original cottage, to draw eastern light deep into the plan
3 The extension works begin in the rear yard, with very minimal space to work in
4 Wall framing with a playful pop-out to accomodate the new main bedroom and robe in the extension
Designed as a sympathetic extension to the existing workers cottage, Stockton Link House is intended to enable our client to age in place for many years to come. The home is all on one level which was of utmost importance both in the purchase of the original cottage as well as any design interventions to the site.
Colour signals important activity points throughout the home – an orange front door and entry acting as a beacon to passersby and friends dropping in for a chat; and carved incisions into the exterior fabric of the new wing allow apertures for capturing breezes and light deep into the plan.
1 Careful disassembly and peeling back of the layers of the original cottage so that the existing hardwood framing can be retained
2 Framing new windows in the original cottage, to draw eastern light deep into the plan
3 The extension works begin in the rear yard, with very minimal space to work in
4 Wall framing with a playful pop-out to accomodate the new main bedroom and robe in the extension
STA were very keen to maintain and renovate the existing worker’s cottage frontage of the site, with the contemporary addition sitting below and behind the current roofline, so as to not impose upon the existing streetscape. Sea breezes needed to be captured and drawn deep into the home in both the existing cottage and the new extension for passive cooling, a tricky prospect given the north-south alignment of the site that is closely bounded by residences all sides. The existing cottage also desperately needed to be renovated to resolve the many spatial issues, and to remove decaying internal and external materials, as well as a series of lean-to structures to make way for the new extension.
Designed as a sympathetic extension to the existing workers cottage, Stockton Link House is intended to enable our client to age in place for many years to come. The home is all on one level which was of utmost importance both in the purchase of the original cottage as well as any design interventions to the site.
Colour signals important activity points throughout the home – an orange front door and entry acting as a beacon to passersby and friends dropping in for a chat; and carved incisions into the exterior fabric of the new wing allow apertures for capturing breezes and light deep into the plan.