Architecture
Pop-Outs Add Instant Space and Architectural Artistry
Pop out a wall to create a bathroom, dining nook or even just a window seat, and your home will reap the benefits
If it’s not practical to extend your home because of site or budget restrictions, consider what your home really needs and think outside the box – literally. Window seats, dining areas and even entire rooms can be popped out of the side, front or rear of your house without the need for expensive renovations. Cantilevered or not, pop-outs can also frame views, connect your home with the outdoors, and add a feature your house may need to give it some architectural flair. Take a look at the work of these architects to get a sense of just how big a difference pop-outs can make to homes big and small.
While pop-outs can be useful to create extra space in an existing home, architects sometimes work them into new builds to add architectural flair.
Leave it hanging
Cantilevering a pop-out room can make the most of the views, and give the sense of being suspended in space, which in a sense, you are.
“When designing, the rule of thumb for a cantilever is two thirds must be embedded in the main structure to allow the final third to cantilever,” says architect Rebecca Naughtin. “This rule helps save money, but you can always push the limits with the help of a creative engineer.”
Windows that make the most of the view
Cantilevering a pop-out room can make the most of the views, and give the sense of being suspended in space, which in a sense, you are.
“When designing, the rule of thumb for a cantilever is two thirds must be embedded in the main structure to allow the final third to cantilever,” says architect Rebecca Naughtin. “This rule helps save money, but you can always push the limits with the help of a creative engineer.”
Windows that make the most of the view
Cantilevering allows you to create extra room without adding to a home’s footprint, which means you can maintain the outdoor space you have at ground level at the front of your house …
… or the back.
In city areas, where space is extra tight, cantilevering can work wonders. “Our practice has been permitted to extend a window seat ‘pop-out’ over a laneway in a dense urban area, creating much needed space for the first-floor addition,” says Naughtin, by way of example. “As long as we were over three metres above natural ground level, and complied with side setbacks and overshadowing regulations, we could extend by a metre.”
In city areas, where space is extra tight, cantilevering can work wonders. “Our practice has been permitted to extend a window seat ‘pop-out’ over a laneway in a dense urban area, creating much needed space for the first-floor addition,” says Naughtin, by way of example. “As long as we were over three metres above natural ground level, and complied with side setbacks and overshadowing regulations, we could extend by a metre.”
Bring the outdoors in
The pop-out window bay in this renovation allowed light to flood into the reworked interiors, created an extra hang-out space, and blurred the boundaries between inside and out.
“Pop-outs allow better connections between interiors and the outside environment,” says Naughtin. “They frame views or features, or simply create that extra space you may need.”
The pop-out window bay in this renovation allowed light to flood into the reworked interiors, created an extra hang-out space, and blurred the boundaries between inside and out.
“Pop-outs allow better connections between interiors and the outside environment,” says Naughtin. “They frame views or features, or simply create that extra space you may need.”
Architect Danny Broe used recycled brick and stone to elevate this patio, so that people sitting in the window facing out could rest their feet there.
Make a bedroom more liveable
Popping out a wall needn’t be expensive, and can add just the space you need to a small bedroom. This pop-out also adds contrast to the exterior of this Brisbane house through colour and by laying the weatherboards vertically rather than horizontally, as in the rest of the house.
Popping out a wall needn’t be expensive, and can add just the space you need to a small bedroom. This pop-out also adds contrast to the exterior of this Brisbane house through colour and by laying the weatherboards vertically rather than horizontally, as in the rest of the house.
The narrow bedroom is now large enough to accommodate a king-sized bed and bedside tables, and all that natural light makes it feel extra spacious.
Leftover weatherboards were also used to create a portico and screen by the front door, in a colour that ties in with the bedroom pop-out.
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Browse more renovation stories
Add on a bathroom
Jostling for a turn in the shower doesn’t make for a very harmonious home when there are multiple busy people living together (or worse, teenagers). This pop-out creates a small but handy bathroom, and keeps the barbecue area out of the rain.
Jostling for a turn in the shower doesn’t make for a very harmonious home when there are multiple busy people living together (or worse, teenagers). This pop-out creates a small but handy bathroom, and keeps the barbecue area out of the rain.
The new bathroom was necessary in this two-bedroom house after the family added a double-storey lightwell where the old bathroom used to be. Projecting out had the added benefit of giving them mountain views to the south while they brush their teeth.
Get that eat-in kitchen you’ve always wanted
Casual dining areas in the kitchen are sought-after attributes, but if the layout of your kitchen doesn’t allow stools up at the island bench, where will you sit? Popping out a wall is a simple solution.
“One of my favourite ways to extend a house or a room in order to add extra space is to knock out an existing window and simply pop out a bay,” says architect Dominic Bagnato.
Casual dining areas in the kitchen are sought-after attributes, but if the layout of your kitchen doesn’t allow stools up at the island bench, where will you sit? Popping out a wall is a simple solution.
“One of my favourite ways to extend a house or a room in order to add extra space is to knock out an existing window and simply pop out a bay,” says architect Dominic Bagnato.
Add an instant home office
“If you have a house with a roof eave, and usually they extend out by about 600 millimetres, it is even easier because you simply cut the wall down either side of the window to floor level and build a bay under the eave,” Bagnato says. “In this instance you don’t have to touch the roof or guttering and as long as you stick to the dimension width of the existing window, and you don’t even need to add a lintel above; all you are doing is relocating the window from the face of the existing wall to the outside face of the eave.”
The distance between the eave and the top of the pop-out home office in this house meant drainage was necessary … into the pool below. If you are doing this on the side of a house, Bagnato advises consulting your local council to determine any setback requirements. He warns that you may still need a building permit.
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Have you popped out a wall to create extra space or an architectural feature? Tell us about it in the Comments below.
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“If you have a house with a roof eave, and usually they extend out by about 600 millimetres, it is even easier because you simply cut the wall down either side of the window to floor level and build a bay under the eave,” Bagnato says. “In this instance you don’t have to touch the roof or guttering and as long as you stick to the dimension width of the existing window, and you don’t even need to add a lintel above; all you are doing is relocating the window from the face of the existing wall to the outside face of the eave.”
The distance between the eave and the top of the pop-out home office in this house meant drainage was necessary … into the pool below. If you are doing this on the side of a house, Bagnato advises consulting your local council to determine any setback requirements. He warns that you may still need a building permit.
YOUR SAY
Have you popped out a wall to create extra space or an architectural feature? Tell us about it in the Comments below.
MORE
Browse more home design ideas
The pop-out in this new home extends the bathroom, the mirror reflecting the forested surrounds and the bath beneath the window connecting with the view. The design of this modern home was inspired by the train carriages that once travelled through the site, with the main house a simple, tall box. Adding pop-outs can add interest to an otherwise boxy shape and, in this case, deliver on a young family’s wish for a modern, comfortable house that brings the outdoors in.