PROJECTS

Resisting a culture of excess, this economical and enlightening home is humble in scale but spirited in its ambitions for the future of suburban housing.

Poised between suburb and sea, this robust and respectful new house allows occupants to enjoy the comfort of home while being immersed in a bushland setting.

As demand for intergenerational living continues to grow, this secondary dwelling offers an enticing model for independent and adaptable occupation that can evolve with the needs of its owners.

Blok Belongil, Blok Modular’s collaboration with architecture practice Vokes and Peters, is built on the edge of the sand dunes at Belongil Beach, Byron Bay. In response to rising sea levels, the council forbids construction here unless the building can be demounted and moved within a certain time frame.

An unusual composition with an asymmetrical design, Shiplap House by Chenchow Little is a bold house untethered by contemporary discourse.

Small but sufficient, this home on the New South Wales north coast pursues a reductive approach to the holiday house, proposing small-footprint simplicity as the antidote to busy city life.

Melbourne-based MRTN Architects has created a thoughtfully resolved home in Tamworth in regional NSW that draws on the legacy of agricultural sheds.

Inside meets outside in a Byron Bay house that has a profound connection to nature and a grounding in exceptional craftsmanship.

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.

A retro refrigerator provides Aileen Sage Architects with a playful point of reference for this home’s nostalgic yet fresh interior design.

A sandcastle in more than name, this multi-level home by Raffaello Rosselli and Luigi Rosselli Architects with Alwill Interiors combines beachy colours with clear views of sea and sky.

Built in the bush, this collection of architect-designed houses responds to rigorous bushfire safety standards with scrutiny and creativity, exploring ways of living safely and sustainably in the unforgiving Australian landscape.

Elegant and unpretentious, this new home in Kiama is at once a sanctuary and a fortress, a robust home braced to endure the often volatile climatic patterns of its clifftop location.

Fluidity between interior and exterior realms is embraced in the kitchen and bathrooms of this home with a modernist past.

With views to Mount Huon, this home in rural New South Wales achieves much with its simple form, offering a space for all seasons and a “free plan” where occupants can decide how and when rooms are used.

Respect for context serves as a robust scaffolding for thoughtful details that convey a sense of generosity in this contemporary approach to the traditional Sydney terrace house.

Time, trust and deep respect for the Byron Bay landscape have yielded the “small but perfectly formed” Coolamon House, a multi-generational retreat in thoughtful dialogue with its surroundings.

Inspired by the sensory experience of coastal surrounds, this home is resplendent in its vivid use of colour and natural light.

An outstanding exemplar of inner-city sustainable living, this new house in Melbourne also pushes the boundaries of contemporary design.

Tucked behind the dunes on the northern New South Wales coast, an adaptable dwelling makes use of resilient materials that bestow both a solid and a diaphanous quality, immersing the inhabitants in the beauty of the site and the seasons.

Acknowledging the restorative power of prospect and refuge, this new house in the Northern Rivers hinterland proffers a dramatic, bunker-like shell that peels open to reveal a warm and intimate inner sanctuary.

An earthy colour palette brings the surrounding bushland inside this laidback yet sophisticated refuge that playfully acknowledges its mid-century modernist roots.

This calm, compact dwelling at the rear of a Victorian terrace in Sydney represents an alternative to conventional home designs that will become increasingly valuable as our urban centres densify and household sizes decrease.

Courtyard House by Chrofi is an off-grid house located in the beachside forests of coastal New South Wales that touches the earth lightly.

Designed for a Sydney family to share with their friends, this engaging Central Coast holiday house embodies a collective memory of time spent by the beach.

In Sydney’s tranquil Castle Cove, an angular concrete form designed by Terroir in collaboration with Pascale Gomes-McNabb Design is an architectural riff on the rocky crags and crevices that characterize the steep topography of this harbourside suburb.

When a family friend bought a property in southern New South Wales, Penny Collins and Huw Turner, of Collins and Turner, jumped at the chance to design. Here, Penny and Huw reflect on their first house together, a pristine object in the landscape.

A series of stacked interconnected volumes that carefully negotiate a tricky wedge-shaped site provided the solution for a client wishing to downsize their home without compromising amenity.

On a rocky outcrop at the eastern edge of a secluded beach south of Sydney, this house maximizes opportunities to connect with the spectacular natural environment that surrounds it.

Making a case for “right-sized” housing, three secondary dwelling designs illustrate how granny flats are being reinterpreted as site-responsive and sustainable spaces that alleviate contemporary demands on our suburbs.