Burrawang Cottage called for increasing the living area of the house and connecting the house to the garden, but most importantly, creating a new centre (heart) to pull the family together.

The design explores the masculine/feminine, solid/void, light/dark elements of cottage architecture as it reimagines the traditional cottage and transforms the existing house into a family home. This project creates contrast in colour, scale and transparency to tell the story of change, while the interior palette unifies the space.

The existing cottage is expressed as the feminine – soft, white, dreamy and delicate, whereas the new interventions challenge this by injecting strong, dark, robust and confident elements to the house, creating balance and neutralising the feminine. The existing cottage is characterised by a traditional solid/void relationship with the external walls, whilst the new addition contrasts this with bi-folding doors which open the house up to the garden, blurring the line between inside and outside spaces.

The kitchen was recentred to the middle of the living area. It acts as a command centre with sight lines extending from the front of the house to the rear. The new “great room” adds scale and volume to the interior, with the fireplace and oversized pendant light responding to the scale of this new room. The black kitchen contrasts with the white cottage, and black elements extend through the interior of the existing cottage and the exterior of the new addition to weave the house together.

K House challenged us to design a country house for a family of 9 – seeking a sense of home, and a strong connection to their site, horses and the broader natural landscape.

Their request was simple – the house was to be zoned into 4 compartments – one a main living space, one for the 4 young boys, one for the parents and their daughter and another for grandparent accommodation -the brief asked for children, grandparents and parents to have their own space in the plan, but to come together so that family time was a shared experience.

The project is expressed a simple crucifix shape, with the roof-line connecting the various parts of the programme. Each zone to meets in a physical and notional centre-point on the plan – a unification of the separate parts into one. The form and finishes emphasise the beauty of the surrounding landscape.

Diamond Fields – This large rural site called for a house to take advantage of the rolling green views to the north, and given the distance from the road and services, the house needed to be ‘off grid’.

The brief was for a house that felt earthy and connected to the site, with the feature of the house to be sandstone reclaimed by our client from the demolition of houses in Sydney suburbs.

The result is a beautiful “U” shaped house, designed around a central entry courtyard space featuring the reclaimed sandstone as entry walls. The sandstone continues into the entry, and into the kitchen/living pavilion where the stone then wraps around to a double-sided fireplace. These robust, character filled stone walls create a feeling of warmth internally, and act as a grounding element connecting the dwelling to the site.

GERROA HOUSE was a response to designing a new house on a spectacular headland site overlooking Seven Mile Beach in Gerroa, on the South Coast of NSW. The design captured the view to the south, while directing daylight across all three levels of living space which are nestled into the steep topography of the site.

The brief was to design a contemporary new house on the headland of Gerroa to capture the view along Seven Mile Beach. The site sloped toward the south, which was also the direction of the view, so the brief challenged us to maximise natural light penetration throughout the house with that orientation. The brief called for maximising the accommodation of the house, to accommodate family and friends, and to offer a variety of internal and external living spaces.

CHEESE ETC. was a project to design a bespoke retail outlet for a specialty fromager in the pretty little arcade, High Street Bowral. The project challenged us to design in a compact retail space, maximising display and retail opportunities within the fitout, whilst still allowing space for seating within the space to enjoy cheese and wine tastings, specialty Raclette nights and grabbing a lunchtime toastie.

MY MALUA is an Architect’s own beach house in beautiful Malua Bay, NSW South Coast. The project took an existing, tired and neglected beach shack, and transformed it into a lovely family holiday home. The project was awarded the prize for Residential Architecture (Alterations and Additions) – Institute of Architects Regional Architecture Awards 2022.

The jury commented that:

“My Malua is a humble and beautifully executed renovation of a tired beach house. All too often older houses are knocked down in favour of big, bold new builds, and with that the character and stories of the street are lost. My Malua sensitively reflects the scale, materiality and tone of its surrounding area and creates a considered outcome for the streetscape through the redesign of the front facade.

Key challenges of the flawed existing house were addressed through simple but considered moves such as opening the house to views, natural light, and ventilation. The architect took a conscious approach to empower the three girls who will grow up in the house to act as the clients. This personal approach is reflected in the transformation of the internal spaces and the attention to detail in each room. The outcome is a great celebration of architecture in a small community, and a refreshing reminder that older houses can have a second life.”

A contemporary, sustainable addition to an existing 1930’s dwelling. With the house already commanding a spectacular view over the Bowral town, the new addition was to broaden this view to the south-east and connect the house with the landscape and existing tennis court. Soaring ceilings and a large expanse of thermally-broken glazing allow the occupants to watch the weather roll in from the south, and look down over the early morning blanket of fog which envelopes the town.

Asked to design a contemporary interpretation of a traditional ‘Burradoo’ house was a fabulous project for our studio as it challenged us to consider what a traditional house in the country might start to be. OSBORNE HOUSE is a grounded, pavilion house which holds its own against the surrounding estates and properties, offering to the street the scale, proportion and gravitas of similar surrounding houses, but re-interpreted as a contemporary family home which addresses the garden, captures the sun and explores public and private both in its floor plan and its elevational treatment.

The street facing elevation screens and protects the dwelling, whilst the rear of the house opens itself up toward the north and captures the sun – a real treasure in the cold climate of the Southern Highlands.

The floor plan is arranged so that public spaces are to the west of the main entry, whilst private guest rooms are to the east.

A simple arrangement of pavilions and links creates tranquil, refined and robust spaces. There is no excessive fuss or ornamentation, just a simple palette of materials assembled beautifully with an emphasis on quality detailing and craftsmanship. The success of the project is in its simplicity and its elegance, as it questions what a grand country house is all about.

Osborne House was awarded:

Institute of Architects NSW Regional Architecture Awards (2022) Commendation – Residential Architecture (New).