This project begins by stripping back a previously renovated small Californian Bungalow style cottage to its elemental symmetrical form. A jumble of rooms becomes three central plaster lined ‘grand’ rooms flanked by humble vj lined galleys – the central rooms becoming the lounge, dining and sitting, flanked by the kitchen, library and study.
A new spiral stair punches up through from a ground level entry creating a dramatic vertical space. Bedrooms and bathrooms are accommodated in a new lower level to the cottage that is also configured to become a teenage retreat or granny flat, and a new rear tower extension. The tower is separated from the cottage by a courtyard that brings light into the lower floor and enables northern aspect to the tower and garden terrace under. Access to the tower is via a link bridge from the cottage. The bridge also gives access to the terrace, pool and garden beyond. The terrace is on axis with the central rooms of the cottage and frames the view from those rooms to the rear garden. The captured terrain in the courtyard stepping down from the terrace to the undercroft becomes a miniature landscape viewed and overlooked by the cottage and tower and the bridge that links them.
The proposed design enables a form of development which provides a contemporary level of amenity while minimising the built footprint and maximising the amount garden space. Associated with this is a built form that reflects the need for buildings in the Brisbane climate to have excellent cross ventilation and reduced exposure to the low eastern and western summer sun. This is in contrast to typical small lot renovations which have large floor plates and little garden space resulting in dark poorly ventilated interiors and the loss of the rear gardens that are part of the historic character of the inner city Brisbane.
