The dwelling is a contemporary residence that reinvents the traditional timber cottage with a modern sensibility. It comprises three forms that hug the boundaries of the triangular site. 

 

The steep gabled facade provides a traditional form. It is treated with a modest pallet of materials: exposed steel frame, unpainted timber batten cladding and zinc roof, creating an unmistakably modern building. 

 

The texture provided by the timber external skin assumes a poetic quality evocative of the more decorative elements in the historical timber cottages. 

 

The horizontal timber batten skin camouflages the openings creating the image of a homogeneous timber box. The approval process took 12 months due to the complexity of the heritage/conservation nature of the neighbourhood and 9 months of construction at a cost of $1 million, (2003)

 

The project was awarded The Woollahra Conservation Award (Merit) – A new Building in a Conservation Area,

Great Thorne Street (Morris Residence) 2004.

 

The Morris Residence was then published in the NSW Heritage Office – Design in Context, Guidelines for Infill Development in the Historic Environment.