Most people would have torn it down. But David and Hannah Hodson had become attached to their 1950s home in the Hendra suburb of Brisbane after living in it for a year—even though the weather-board house was dark, architecturally uninspired, and awkwardly close to a side property line. When they decided to create a larger home for themselves and their two children, they chose to renovate instead and charged Australian design firm Wrightson Stewart with overhauling and expanding the structure to bring in more light and air and generally give some new life to a tired old house.

David grew up in nearby Ascot, where he still has family, and he and Hannah love Hendra’s mishmash of architectural styles. Their own corner lot, however, came with considerable challenges that any addition would have to navigate.

Two large storm water pipes diagonally cross the site, limiting opportunities for ground works and footings. In addition, the property is on what is called an “overland flow path”—designed to limit the impact of flooding—meaning that any new structures need to be a minimum height above ground level.

Luckily, in subtropical Brisbane, where much of the traditional Queenslander housing stock is built on tall piers for ventilation, the lifting, shifting, and re-stumping of houses is a common intervention.

Architect Barbara Bailey, working with Wrightson Stewart, designed the extension as a separate—and architecturally distinct—structure. The original house resembles a traditional cottage—pitched roof, terra-cotta tiles, bay windows. The extension is taller and has a flat roof and cleaner lines. “Hendra is very eclectic in terms of the sorts of houses that are in it,” says Bailey of combining two styles. The structures are linked by an elevated breezeway, and elements such as operable louvered windows in both sections and overall white timber cladding marry old and new.

The existing house was moved forward on the lot so that the family could have a north-facing private backyard and pool. “That has so improved the streetscape,” says Bailey. “It just looks like the house has always been there.” Several decks have been included, with cutouts in their crisp white walls framing neighborhood views.

“The design team came to see us and to observe how we were living,” David says. “We told them we wanted an open plan, and we definitely liked the idea of the two spaces, old and new, as separate zones—one for the kids’ bedrooms and one for our bedroom and the living spaces. In a previous house that we built, we wanted a bridge but never got it, so I think we’ve always had a thing for bridges.”

Their Hendra house was boxed in and thermally inefficient, but now the Hodsons find themselves opening up the louvers and windows throughout, enjoying the cross breezes in the 2,700-square-foot combined structure.

Shop the Look

Strands of the surrounding neighborhood’s architectural DNA can be seen running through the new interiors, from the shiplap joinery of the serpentine desk/storage/seating unit, which references the external weatherboarding, to the terra-cotta tiles in the new kitchen, which link visually to the roofs of neighboring homes and the old part of the couple’s home. “I actually find the kitchen really nostalgic,” says designer Ian Wrightson of Wrightson Stewart, “because terracotta roof material is something that reminds me of being a kid and growing up in the suburbs.”

The site’s restrictions could have been fought against, or the past simply pushed aside when things got difficult, but in working with the challenges and anchoring the home to its neighborhood, this formidable team has been able to poetically and respectfully reinvent their little corner of Brisbane.

Project Credits:

Design: Wrightson Stewart

Architecture: boARC Architects

Construction: JCW Builders

Structural Engineering: Neil McKenzie & Associates (+61.7.3862.1886)

Landscape Design: James Birrell Design Lab

Cabinetry: Wrightson Stewart & McAtamney Cabinets

Windows: Duce Timber Windows and Doors