The punch list for this remodel was long. To start, the original 1,000-square-foot Queenslander sits on Brisbane’s fifth steepest street. When the clients purchased it, “It lacked connection to the ground and to outdoor entertainment areas, and integrated poorly with the extreme slope it sat on,” says architect David Hansford of DAH Architecture.

In order to remedy that, the firm specified a new garage with master suite over it, converted the original home into bedroom spaces, and added a double-height, open plan living “pod” to the rear, so as to integrate an existing pool and create usable outdoor space.

When the clients, a young professional couple, expressed interest in a contemporary addition, the firm balanced that rear treatment with a more understated profile at the front.

“We felt it was important to remain sympathetic to the house’s character in the streetscape with some subtle foreshadowing of what lay [behind],” says Hansford. “The large gabled extension to the streetscape pays subtle homage to its character beginnings. The metal frame, mirrored opening, dark cladding, and reduced eaves really make this extension pop without being too obvious.”

The clients needed a home that was up to the task of entertaining, and which could adapt to a growing family, all of which the new layout addresses. Also, “the client valued light, volume, and breezes, as well as seamless, open-plan living often connected with loft-style apartments,” says Hansford. None of these wish list items could be found in the existing Queenslander, as it had suffered “strange alterations” over the years.

Related Reading:

Before & After: A Rundown Brisbane Cottage Turns Into a Ravishing, Modern Home

An Australian Cottage Gets a Mediterranean-Inspired Revamp

Project Credits:

Architecture: DAH Architecture / @daharchitecture

Builder: Ian Fowler

Structural Engineer: Northey Consulting Engineers

Landscape design: Therese McGroder

Interior Design: Elm Interiors

Appears In

A Glass Addition Lends Loft-Style Living to a Traditional Australian Cottage