Set within the leafy neighbourhood of Lilyfield, this project is a pragmatic, contextually-driven response to a design brief that aimed to add a bedroom, study and storage to a free-standing cottage.

An unusually wide passage running the length of the cottage gave the opportunity to entirely accommodate the new rooms in a side extension. This approach left the original dwelling largely intact whilst filling in an anomalous gap in a streetscape where houses are built close to their boundaries.

The timber-clad extension is suspended to retain an overland flood path. Generous windows connect the indoor spaces to the outdoors, celebrating the gardens and integrating them into the family’s daily life.

Internally, the smallest skylight brings the greatest light to an otherwise unassuming hallway, by way of a vaulted ceiling. Bedrooms are re-oriented off this new private ‘wing’, creating a feeling of the home being bigger than its actual footprint.

Spotted gum cladding reinforces its context in a contemporary manner. An angled wall forms the side of a cantilevered bay window and extends upwards at a sharp angle, relating the cottage to its taller neighbouring terrace. Details are deliberately minimal to preserve and celebrate the original home.

Located in Wangal country.