Kim and I just can’t say no to a church renovation. Such a tricky thing to pull off though. Often the domestic overwhelms its ecclesiastical shell. Weird rooms, cut off windows, the twee of everyday life competing with the gravity of a former place of worship. A desire to leave the existing building untouched drove the design of the Inner House by Bates Smart.

“The Inner House is a single dwelling constructed in the 1926 First Church of Christ Scientist in East Sydney. The House is erected on a platform built over the raking floor with a pair of two storey cubes flanking the volume. These spaces contain sleeping accommodation and ancillary facilities whilst the central space provides living and dining areas. The concept is derived from the formal geometry of the volume, its austerity and the temporary nature of the new structure.”