This 1960's Canberra house was perfectly comfortable, but had seen better days. It had very minimal connection to the backyard and a strange ensuite/robe arrangement off the master bedroom that desperately needed resolving. It is fairly common for Canberra homes from this era to have 'utility rooms' (bathrooms, laundries etc) facing onto the backyard and therefore blocking access from the living areas. Our brief was to re-design around these problem areas while sticking to a strict budget.

Our approach was to leave as much of the existing structure and roof shape in situ. Because every interior wall was structural, we modified this house as minimally as possible in order to resolve the layout. We then added on outdoor 'living' areas, both off the kitchen and off the ensuite to connect the house more with the backyard and provide a comfortable, protected set of spaces for indoor/outdoor living.

We contrasted the style of the existing brick house by creating black-steel and white-clad structures with timber slats for privacy. We incorporated this black steel into the existing building fabric as well, allowing for wide opening doors both off the kitchen and off the ensuite onto the outdoor areas. This has effectively doubled the amount of living/kitchen area in this home, by creating versatile and useable outdoor spaces.