Houses, February 2022
HousesThe best contemporary residential architecture, with inspirational ideas from leading architects and designers.
Articles
Houses 144 preview
Introduction to Houses 144.
‘Magnetism of the landscape’: Poinciana House
Taking root beneath a timber Queensland cottage, this carefully tuned addition knits an experience of the immediate and distant landscape into the daily patterns of domestic life.
House of longevity: K House
Elegant and unpretentious, this new home in Kiama is at once a sanctuary and a fortress, a robust home braced to endure the often volatile climatic patterns of its clifftop location.
Revisited: Courtyard House by Bill Shugg
After hiring a plane to “block spot” over Hobart in the 1960s, Tasmanian architect Bill Shugg found the ideal site in the garden of a grand colonial house. The modernist home he built there for his family is little changed today.
Cool and calm: 231 Napier Street
Sheathed in a distinctive shell of raw concrete, this apartment reveals a calm and cocooning interior that balances a muted palette with moments of material intensity.
Shelter and connect: Evelyn
In Brisbane’s Paddington, an old timber cottage is thoughtfully and skilfully recast as a courtyard house that responds to site, climate and the desire for familial connection.
One to Watch: Miles Thorp
Lewis Miles and Chris Thorp’s partnership is fuelled by an appetite for experimentation and an interest in nimble, efficient design.
Coastview Apartment by Andrew Burges Architects
A 1960s apartment is judiciously replanned for single occupancy, creating a solitary refuge from which to survey the immediacy and intensity of the ocean view.
First House: Mary Residence
Drawing inspiration from the dexterously planned terraced house renovations of London, Matt Gibson’s first house spurred a passion for melding heritage elements and contemporary design that continues in his practice today.
Studio: James Howe
After leaving a career in magazine writing to pursue a passion for furniture, Adelaide’s James Howe draws on memories and emotions to find an “authentic voice” as he designs his furniture.
Master of spatial tricks: House for Eva and Matilda
In a Brunswick laneway, a small-scale infill project capitalizes on mixed-use zoning, providing its owner with a main residence, a studio apartment and a shopfront office – on a site of just 88 square metres.
Curiosity and invention: The houses of Architecture Architecture
Understated and playful, the houses of this Melbourne-based studio reveal a finely honed architectural approach underpinned by invention and curiosity.
Meet the owner of House for Eva and Matilda
With grand ambitions for a small site, Eva turned to Antony Martin of MRTN Architects to design a new home for her family and her business. Eva spoke to Georgia Birks about the process of shaping big dreams into a beautiful home.
Living well, not large: House for a Garden
A delicate balance of addition and subtraction liberates a small and dark bungalow in Sydney, creating a composed home that is less house, more garden.
Light and airy: Clayfield Fern House
Voluminous yet resourceful, this lightweight addition to a Queenslander is a pragmatic solution that filters sunlight and buffers noise while also serving as a delightfully adaptable outdoor room.
Rejoined twins: Paddington House II
A rare opportunity to unite a pair of semi-detached houses in Sydney’s Paddington results in a deceptively generous family home that responds to the spatial geometry of the site.