The winner of The Living Space at the 2023 INDE.Awards is announced and the accolade goes to SJB for 19 Waterloo Street. This small, perfectly formed home is an exemplar of sustainability, but also fulfils the needs and requirements for family life.

Partner for The Living Space is Gaggenau, a brand that enhances life in the kitchen and makes the heart of the home complete. Congratulations go to SJB for creating a residence that ticks all the boxes from architecture and design to décor and functionality.

The 2023 INDE.Awards jury agreed that this residence combines, “A tiny footprint, recycling materials, thinking clever; This little home case studies that you really can do more with less, have some fun and personally contribute to community in the finding and making of places to live.”

As a project, the footprint is small with just 30 square metres and has a Jacques Tati-esque façade of recycled and broken bricks. However, sustainability is at the core of the design, doing more with less and reusing materials.

Located in Sydney, Australia, 19 Waterloo Street presents more as a tree house than a real house with a split section and stairs that become the pinwheel around which the house moves. The residence is divided into spaces that are served or in service and ceiling heights are short – for service spaces 2.1 metres and 3.6 metres for the study, living and bedroom.

This is primarily a reuse project and highlights include the garden located in the bathroom and the scale of the built-in lounge.

Congratulations to SJB for designing an original and innovative home that shows small is indeed beautiful when great design is involved.

Missed the INDE.Awards gala or just want to relive the highlights? Simply follow this link and sit back and enjoy the only regional celebration of architecture and design excellence. 

Photography: Anson Smart

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