Before & After: A Humble Worker's Cottage Gets a Serious Glow-Up
A series of questionable 1970s renos hid this Queensland cottage's best features – see how an architect brought them out
Georgia Madden
12 November 2021
In this Q&A series, we turn the spotlight on one thought-provoking renovation each week. Here, Julie Lawrence, architect and owner of Plot Architecture, reveals how she peeled back the layers of a series of poorly conceived renovations to her family’s Queensland worker’s cottage. The result revealed the home’s hidden potential and ushered in more light, space and an indoor-outdoor connection with a rear extension.
‘After’ images by Brock Beazley (except for the images marked as by Joseph Grey). Answers by Julie Lawrence, architect and director of Plot Architecture.
Who lives here: The architect, her husband and their two young children. They have since moved.
Location: Paddington, Queensland
Bedrooms and bathrooms before works: Three bedrooms, one bathroom
Bedrooms and bathrooms after works: Five bedrooms, three bathrooms
Storeys before works: One
Storeys after works: Two
House size before works: Around 100 square metres
House size after works: Around 325 square metres
Budget: Approximately $800,000
Architecture and interior design: Plot Architecture
Builder: Alter Build
Solar and battery system: Platinum Solar
Who lives here: The architect, her husband and their two young children. They have since moved.
Location: Paddington, Queensland
Bedrooms and bathrooms before works: Three bedrooms, one bathroom
Bedrooms and bathrooms after works: Five bedrooms, three bathrooms
Storeys before works: One
Storeys after works: Two
House size before works: Around 100 square metres
House size after works: Around 325 square metres
Budget: Approximately $800,000
Architecture and interior design: Plot Architecture
Builder: Alter Build
Solar and battery system: Platinum Solar
The exterior before works
What was the house like originally?
A pre-1946 Queensland worker’s cottage, with renovations to enclose verandahs and lower ceilings done in the 1970s.
What state was it in?
Liveable, but only just!
Itching to renovate? You can find an architect near you on Houzz
What was the house like originally?
A pre-1946 Queensland worker’s cottage, with renovations to enclose verandahs and lower ceilings done in the 1970s.
What state was it in?
Liveable, but only just!
Itching to renovate? You can find an architect near you on Houzz
The exterior after works
What wasn’t working about the layout?
It was closed-in and didn’t connect with the yard. There was no open-plan or indoor-outdoor living.
How would you describe this project?
A raise and build under, including side and rear extensions.
What wasn’t working about the layout?
It was closed-in and didn’t connect with the yard. There was no open-plan or indoor-outdoor living.
How would you describe this project?
A raise and build under, including side and rear extensions.
The floor plan before works
What was your goal?
To retain and expose the original character of the cottage by creating bedrooms in the existing spaces and adding on open-plan living spaces to the rear that maximised connection to the garden.
What was your goal?
To retain and expose the original character of the cottage by creating bedrooms in the existing spaces and adding on open-plan living spaces to the rear that maximised connection to the garden.
The floor plan after works
What was gained with the new works?
A new entry was added to the side of the existing cottage with new open-plan living spaces to the rear.
A new garage and bedrooms were added underneath the house.
What was gained with the new works?
A new entry was added to the side of the existing cottage with new open-plan living spaces to the rear.
A new garage and bedrooms were added underneath the house.
The rear before works
Did the house have any heritage restrictions?
The whole area is in the Traditional Building Character Overlay, so development approval was required through Brisbane City Council.
We were allowed to return the house to its original form, but needed planning approval for the side extension because it could be seen from the street.
The design ensured that this addition read like a side verandah and was behind the line of the existing front verandah.
Did the house have any heritage restrictions?
The whole area is in the Traditional Building Character Overlay, so development approval was required through Brisbane City Council.
We were allowed to return the house to its original form, but needed planning approval for the side extension because it could be seen from the street.
The design ensured that this addition read like a side verandah and was behind the line of the existing front verandah.
The rear after works.
Image: Joseph Grey.
What were your must-haves for the new extension?
Image: Joseph Grey.
What were your must-haves for the new extension?
- Large stacker doors to the rear to make the entertaining deck part of the living space.
- Retain the character of the original spaces.
- Maximise cross ventilation and natural light from the front to the back of the house.
What was the budget?
Around $800,000.
Where did most of it go?
On excavating and retaining works with the pool because the block slopes towards the street.
Around $800,000.
Where did most of it go?
On excavating and retaining works with the pool because the block slopes towards the street.
What exactly did you do?
- Raised the house.
- Removed the lowered ceilings at the front of the house to expose the original VJ linings and fretwork, which had all been enclosed in the ceiling cavity when they flattened the ceiling line in the 1970s.
- Removed carpet to expose the original timber flooring.
- Reinstated the enclosed verandah at the front to its original form.
- Repainted and replaced damaged windows.
The kitchen before works
- Added an entrance extension to the side of the cottage.
- Added an open-plan living/kitchen/dining extension to the rear.
- Installed a self-sufficient power system – 27 solar panels and a 17.6 kW battery that can power the house all day.
The kitchen and living area after works. Image: Joseph Grey.
What was your thinking behind the colours and materials?
Accentuating the original cottage and making the newer additions darker to sit behind or below them kept the focus from the streetscape on the original house.
What was your thinking behind the colours and materials?
Accentuating the original cottage and making the newer additions darker to sit behind or below them kept the focus from the streetscape on the original house.
The living room before works
What challenges did you have to work around?
Given that I’m an architect and my husband is a builder, we were well-placed to get through the build without many problems, other than our own indecisiveness!
We did have our second baby towards the end, so I had to do site inspections either heavily pregnant or with a newborn strapped to me. Entertaining the 2.5-year-old in the dirt pile with all of Dad’s tools was the easy part.
What challenges did you have to work around?
Given that I’m an architect and my husband is a builder, we were well-placed to get through the build without many problems, other than our own indecisiveness!
We did have our second baby towards the end, so I had to do site inspections either heavily pregnant or with a newborn strapped to me. Entertaining the 2.5-year-old in the dirt pile with all of Dad’s tools was the easy part.
The living room after works.
Image: Joseph Grey.
How do the new works complement or contrast with the original home?
I love the old Queenslander typology and I really wanted to keep as much of it as we could. The new works were designed to sit behind and respect the original cottage.
Image: Joseph Grey.
How do the new works complement or contrast with the original home?
I love the old Queenslander typology and I really wanted to keep as much of it as we could. The new works were designed to sit behind and respect the original cottage.
What are the defining features of this house now?
- The graphic house numbers that form part of the screening on the front of the house (pictured in the third image). Even some of our trades didn’t notice they were there until we told them. They are now much less obvious with the greenery growing up, which was the intention.
- The exposed timber beams to the rear, which gave us the open-plan living and outdoor deck that we wanted.
- The character bedrooms in the original house. We were fortunate to have large rooms that worked well with very little changes, enabling us to keep the central hallway and front deck to make the most of the natural light and breezes.
- The open-plan kitchen/living/dining space that opens up to the deck and yard. It’s a great entertaining house where everyone can find a spot to sit and chat, eat or play.
Why do you think the house works so well now?
For a young family, it is successful because you can live on one level and move easily between the interior and exterior.
The bedrooms are a couple of steps up to create a delineation between private and public, while the living and outdoor spaces are very well-connected. This is a rarity in Brisbane where the hills mean there are usually stairs off the deck or up to the house.
For a young family, it is successful because you can live on one level and move easily between the interior and exterior.
The bedrooms are a couple of steps up to create a delineation between private and public, while the living and outdoor spaces are very well-connected. This is a rarity in Brisbane where the hills mean there are usually stairs off the deck or up to the house.
We located all the overflow spaces downstairs – the ones you don’t use all the time or wish to use away from the main living areas – such as the guest room and ensuite, home office, garage and second living space.
Where did you splash out?
We didn’t compromise on the large stacker doors at the rear as they were key to the design. I always tell clients to pick a couple of things that are integral to the design and never let them go.
We switched a few other windows and elements to meet budgets, but never compromised on those big doors.
We didn’t compromise on the large stacker doors at the rear as they were key to the design. I always tell clients to pick a couple of things that are integral to the design and never let them go.
We switched a few other windows and elements to meet budgets, but never compromised on those big doors.
Where did you save?
I couldn’t find any lights that worked with the house, so I ended up hand-knitting the blue rope light in the foyer and making timber-bead pendants for the powder rooms myself.
I couldn’t find any lights that worked with the house, so I ended up hand-knitting the blue rope light in the foyer and making timber-bead pendants for the powder rooms myself.
The bathroom before works
Interior materials palette
Interior materials palette
- Blackbutt timber floors and stairs.
- Carrara marble penny-round tiles to the kitchen splashback.
- White subway tiles in vertical herringbone to the bathroom.
- Smartstone benchtops in Ceniza to the kitchen/pantry and Arcadia to the bathrooms.
- Lamicolor Chalet Oak high-pressure laminate features to the two-pack polyurethane kitchen cupboards and bathroom vanities.
- Bretts Breezway louvres and windows.
- Caroma tapware and fixtures.
- Abey kitchen sink.
The bathroom after works
Furniture and fixtures
Furniture and fixtures
- Milk & Sugar pendant lights in the hallway with shades hand-knitted by the owner/architect.
- Custom-made vanities to the bathrooms.
- Custom-made Tasmanian oak towel rails and timber screening.
- Dining table designed and custom-made by the builder.
- The original Parker cabinet under the television was passed down from the architect’s grandmother.
- Big Ass Fans ceiling fans.
- Fisher & Paykel oven, cooktop and dish drawer.
- LG fridge.
- Aussie Swings tyre swing in the backyard.
Exterior materials palette
- James Hardie Axon Cladding to the lower level.
- Lysaght Trimdek cladding in Colorbond Windspray to the side of the house.
- Adbri Masonry Grid Pave to the driveway and front fence.
- Bretts Vantage Aluminium doors and windows to the rear.
- The Pool Tile Company light grey granite pavers around the pool.
- Spotted-gum hardwood posts and beams to the verandah.
Paint colours:
- Dulux Natural White used predominantly outside and to the original part of the exterior.
- Dulux Snow Season to the VJ boards below the picture rails in the existing house.
- Dulux Colorbond Monument to all lower level and new additions externally.
- Dulux Woodland Grey to the fencing.
Your turn
What’s your favourite feature here? Tell us in the Comments below. And don’t forget to save these images, like this story and join the conversation.
More
Want to see another appealing exterior? Read this story: Warmth, Light & Garden Views For a Dull, Inner-City Terrace
What’s your favourite feature here? Tell us in the Comments below. And don’t forget to save these images, like this story and join the conversation.
More
Want to see another appealing exterior? Read this story: Warmth, Light & Garden Views For a Dull, Inner-City Terrace
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@mira1 they are permeable paving. Besser make one: http://www.besserblockcentre.com.au/grass_pavers.html
Overall the design is beautiful. There doesn’t seem to be much of the original house left, although perhaps this is just the images we have been shown. As a result it seems like just a facade for a modern re-build. Fair enough. The glass side extension lacks privacy and I would struggle with that. Interesting. Creative.
Some nice features, but I agree with drtoniad14 - doesn’t seem to retain much of the original house.
do like the drive way. don’t like replacing all the beautiful timber lining with ultra basic and nasty plasterboard everywhere