Inbetween House by Inbetween Architecture

A well-loved 1970s brick and weatherboard family home on a generous triangular site had simply been outgrown. The brief mixed concrete asks with abstract ones: protect and improve the established garden setting, add a master suite, give the house a secure and clearly defined entrance, and reconfigure the existing layout so the family fits properly again.

The response is an unconventional new pavilion to the front of the site. Its form references the typical gable of the existing house and then juxtaposes it with sharply contemporary detailing and materiality, so the addition reads as both familiar and new. Past the sheltered entry, the garden announces itself through a large, fully glazed sliding door that opens to the landscaped rear yard. A glazed bridge, set down from the main living level, stitches old and new together and helps the extension settle into the slope.

Inside, the living, kitchen and bathroom zones have been rearranged to complement the three existing bedrooms and to draw in the northern aspect and elevated outlook of the steeply sloping site. A secondary entry, rumpus, home office, amenities and ample storage are tucked into the undercroft at the rear, freeing the main floor for daily life. The outcome is a contemporary family home that keeps the comfortable, lived-in feel of the original cottage and pays it appropriate respect.

Project size 288 m². Completed 2015. Architecture by John Liu, Inbetween Architecture. Landscape design by Frances Hale. Photography by Nick Stephenson, John Liu and Jack Lovel.