Barlow House is an ambitious reworking of a double-storey Brisbane home for a growing family. The brief was to untangle a cluttered, cellular plan and, in doing so, build a strong relationship to the front and rear gardens. Relocating the kitchen opened the ground floor into a single living arrangement, and floor-to-ceiling glazed doors at each end of the house now draw light through the plan, turning the home into the connective space between its two gardens.
A restrained material palette gives the owners room to introduce colour and vibrancy through furniture and art. To the street, striking hardwood timber screening and a new balcony provide privacy and shade and frame a clearly defined entrance below, remaking the front facade and giving Barlow House a fresh identity.
The home is 238 square metres across two levels and completed in 2018.
Architecture by Alexandra Buchanan Architecture. Builder Muller Construction. Photography by Toby Scott.