Tansu House, Sydney, New South Wales

Tansu House in Sydney, New South Wales

10 August 2026

Architecture: CplusC

Location: Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

Photos © Renata Dominik

Tansu House glows softly with mellow sunlight, its big picture windows filled with palm fronds, frangipani and treescape. Cleverly screened from an imposing neighbour, the renovated home reposes in light and privacy.

CplusC’s design transforms a dated 80-year-old home in Sydney’s north into a modern refuge for a family of four. Flexible living spaces make it easy to relax and entertain inside and outside. The L-shaped design prioritises thermal comfort during the cooler months and low-maintenance, energy-efficient living year round.

The heart of the home is a high-ceilinged indoor-outdoor living space. The beautiful wood-finished interior features an open galley kitchen for vibrant family gatherings. This flows effortlessly into an airy outdoor room bounded by a lattice of fibre-reinforced plastic (FRP). This strategic use of FRP screens and grating panels provides privacy from a three-storey home that overlooks the site while providing delightful filtered light.

In modernising the home, CplusC was sensitive to heritage concerns, honouring the original building form with a simple hipped roof consistent with other heritage-listed homes in the area. To avoid the heavier aesthetic of ridge beams, expressed steel ridge plates connect the rafters to create the lofty timber ceiling.

To manage thermal performance, passive solar strategies were used, with burnished concrete floors and hydronic in-floor heating in bathrooms. With timber providing 40% better thermal performance than aluminium, all doors and windows feature timber frames with high-performance glazing for indoor comfort.