Just beyond the spectacular Blue Mountains to Sydney’s west sits one of the state’s most unique homes at 6 Jubilee Ave, Blackheath, with a silhouette that draws inspiration from the nearby peaks.
Known as Night Sky, the cathedral-like residence was meticulously brought to life by the team over at Peter Stutchbury Architecture, overlooking Blackheath Golf Course and combining potentially harsh materials to create an environment in which the softness of the surrounding landscape is infused.
The structure features an elongated shape that meets the slender 999.1 sqm block it’s situated on while allowing for ample surrounding gardens thanks to a floorplan that consumes just 158 sqm, featuring two bedrooms, two bathrooms, and a garage with space for two cars.
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Such homes never pass by unnoticed by Australia’s architectural establishment, and Night Sky was awarded The Robin Boyd Award For Residential Architecture – Houses (New) at the 2021 National Architecture Awards, while the Sophie Zaccone-designed garden brimming with no less than 16 native grasses and shrubs also received a first prize from the Landscape Architecture Awards. A complete package, if ever there was one.
Upon entry through the front door of Night Sky, you’re immediately awed by the soaring 7.5-metre-high vaulted ceiling of the open-plan living and dining room. The centrepiece of this space is the oculus window in the ceiling, which can be covered by a retractable steel panel, but is also designed to offer unparalleled views of the southern skies at night and serve as a passive chimney during the day that draws warmer air out of the room.
Constructed using recycled bricks that were taken from a demolished western Sydney apartment building, the aged patina of the brickwork is contrasted by the more contemporary exposed concrete doorway lintels and ceilings of the other rooms, which combine to create a home that feels as venerable as it does energetic. The bluegum and steel material used throughout the rest of the dwelling work together to highlight this sense of curated naturalism, with double doors in the living room opening up on one side to a clipped lawn and on the other a wild native garden.
Facing the native garden is the master bedroom that arrives complete with an ensuite bathroom, while the second bedroom is found on the other side of the home, adjacent to the office and facing out onto the lawn. Although the office doesn’t have a view directly out onto vegetation, its floor-to-ceiling sliding external glass door opens onto a brick terrace and a reflection pond, providing a workspace primed for calm productivity.
“This work is unusual in its forms and expressions but it is born from a deep regard for and understanding of certain forgotten principles, the loftiest of which is the development of a relationship between humans and the bareness of space.”
Robin Boyd jury citation
While 6 Jubilee Ave, Blackheath, requires a 90-minute drive to rejoin the hustle and bustle of the big smoke (Sydney), its privacy and seclusion are more than worth the occasional commute thanks to a liveability that would be impossible to find on the leafy streets of the Harbour City. Regardless of your enthusiasm for astronomical observation, it’s safe to say Night Sky and its remarkable design offer a distinctive type of universal slow living and peace.
While I wouldn’t typically mention the reliable quality of a particular agent, Night Sky has been brought to market by Marcus Lloyd-Jones’s team at Modern House, whose truly unique homes we have previously covered, including Fishwick House and Legato House. Immaculately presented and tastefully curated homes are Modern House’s staple and Night Sky has been listed to sell via private treaty with a price range of $3 million to $3.3 million.
