Houses, October 2022
HousesThe best contemporary residential architecture, with inspirational ideas from leading architects and designers.
Projects
Green House by Steendijk
Striking a balance between old and new, this architect’s own home reinvents the traditional Queenslander with confidence and precision, achieving elegance and openness in a compact plan.
Less house, more life: Spring Hill House
A Brisbane family of five disrupts the conventions of the suburban family home, instead pursuing a ‘city change’ that offers a compelling formula for less house, more life.
People
Meet the owners of Spring Hill House
Ryan and Fran swapped their large, suburban home for a compact site near the city, and approached local architect Paul Owen with a brief for a small-footprint, small-budget family home. Kirsty Volz spoke to the couple about their downsizing journey and the process of working with an architect.
Studio
Studio: Marta Figueiredo
Beneath their abstract forms and irresistibly tactile surfaces, the works of Marta Figueiredo explore themes of sustainability and social connection.
More articles
Houses 148 preview
Introduction to Houses 148.
Hollywood by Oscar Sainsbury Architects and Insider Outsider
The rituals of beach life are celebrated in this re-worked Phillip Island holiday home, where new additions have been designed with the same accessible approach to sustainability favoured by the original architect.
Bookshelf: Disturbed Home by Ian Strange
Ian Strange is an architectural vandal, a provocateur who burns down condemned suburban houses, paints lurid targets on them, cuts into them, or covers them all in black.
In Profile: Core Collective
Born in Melbourne but drawn to Tasmania, Core Collective Architects is a practice that works across borders: geographic, typological and temporal.
Gathering character: Seagrass House
Perched above an isolated beach on the New South Wales south coast, this joyfully crafted home gathers the character of the place into its architecture, providing a welcome retreat for its owners.
One to watch: Pop Architecture
This Melbourne practice is building a suite of finely resolved residential projects that are experimental in form and rich in texture and materiality.
Being in place: Karri Loam
In Margaret River, a skilfully planned new residence interleaves a love for the handmade with a celebration of local materials, resulting in a house imbued with making and meaning.
Simplicity embraced with open arms: Bellbird House
Immersed in a preserved bushland setting in Melbourne’s eastern suburbs, this calm and composed new home inspires a restful pace for family life.
First House: Southern Highlands House
For Andrew Benn, the invitation to design a one-room addition – not much larger than a garden shed – was the launching pad for his fledgling practice. Here, he reflects on the legacy of that first commission.
Paddington House by Trias
Delicate and decisive, the reworking of this tall and narrow Sydney terrace is underpinned by astute planning, elegant craftsmanship and a keen focus on a connection to the outdoors.
Elegantly simple: Court House by Archier
In a gold rush town in north-east Victoria, a new home on a prominent site refuses to defer to the colonial past, demonstrating an alternative, unapologetically contemporary way of responding to the landscape.
Jacaranda House by Architects Ink
Composed of a series of separate yet carefully connected volumes, a future-proof family home in the Adelaide suburbs responds intimately to its site.
Revisited: Wright House II
Designed by Robin Boyd in 1962 to replace an earlier house that had been destroyed by bushfire, Wright House II united a robust, fire-resistant material palette with an expansive spatial language. The lovingly preserved house endures as one of Boyd’s most compelling designs.