Bijl Architecture

From the very first meeting, Bijl realised that quilting, details and craft were important to the clients. This heritage-listed house in Lindfield utilises quilting’s visual language – pattern, form, grid, line, and layers – to generate a compelling design concept. Bijl Architecture’s brief was to increase amenity for a couple accommodating...

Saint House turns a rundown bungalow into a flexible and robust family home, and puts new secondary accommodation onsite for future proofing. Bijl Architecture’s brief for this home in Chatswood was to fix the numerous existing problems – dark, disjointed rooms, a leaky lean-to, pokey and outdated service spaces – and to make the most of the large...

Tuzi (“toot-za”) House in Naremburn is a structural reconfiguration and renovation to remake the kitchen as “heart of home” and to significantly improve indoor-outdoor living opportunities. In need of a contemporary renovation, the existing home was large enough for our clients’ family but dark, disconnected from the courtyard and rear garden, and...

Schools facilities are a hot topic. Existing schools are being upgraded and new schools built to meet projected enrolment demands and the challenges of technology-rich learning environments. Bijl Architecture have been privileged to be creating architecture that helps meet the needs of the changing education landscape. Over the past three years,...

Natasha Grice is one of several in our team who live on the Northern Beaches. For the past nine years she has volunteered as an active beach patrolling member of the Newport Surf Life Saving Club, and competed in their surf boat division. Natasha’s club holds an annual fundraiser for Cystic Fibrosis through their black tie Barefoot Ball on Newport...

Late last year, Andrew and Giles from our office attended the Polytec Design Awards 2017 and brought home an award for Bijl’s recently completed Kirribilli project, “Doorzien House”.This elegant, deconstructed Federation house is both big picture – light-filled, curated sightlines and framed Sydney Harbour views – and meticulous detailing.Through...

We’re excited to announce Bijl Architecture’s leadership team has been strengthened through the promotion of Andrew Lee to Senior Associate and Chelsea Dawson to Associate. Says Bijl Director, Melonie Bayl-Smith: “When I started Bijl Architecture, I wanted to create a business that actively encourages and rewards demonstrated leadership, and embeds...

GITARRENHAUS, Castlecrag, NSW
When one half of your client is a German guitar collector, it’s a bit difficult to resist calling this Interwar brick and sandstone home on Sydney’s Lower North Shore the GitarrenHaus. Perched on a steep block with majestic harbour views, the clarity of the interiors had been muddled by decades of ad hoc alterations....

DOORZIEN HOUSE
Being part Dutch sometimes we can’t resist a bit of bilingualism - so this recently completed project was named the Doorzien House to capture its ‘see-through’ aspect. Not only does the building frame great views of a beautiful Sydney Harbour outlook, the eye can travel vertically and horizontally – something less usual in a...