Owners Dream

To add space without adding a lot of debt to their modest three-bedroom cottage.

Site Condition

Typically open to a classic suburban backyard all summer, this modernist 50s cottage with low-to-the-ground timber floors retained an easy casual connection with the outside. Inside, rooms were compact and the bathroom felt cramped.

Design Solution

Minimise the costs with minimal alteration to the original structure and instead add value with a two-storey pod outside the kitchen to house the family room and the laundry on the ground floor, and a master suite at the top of a winding stair. Bump out under the eaves to enlarge the bathroom and tuck the shower behind the red tile wall at the back of the vanity. Boundaries between old and new are blurred with the use of materials, roof shape and colours that echo the original house. Stacker doors and windows encourage easy flow from inside to outside. Open corners make compact rooms appear much larger. Storage is everywhere and built into a long window seat under the stairs. The owners’ subsequent design decision to open up the existing kitchen to the living room created even more space.