This project marks a return home to Brisbane for a young family who spent their formative years abroad. The integrity of the existing building and the client’s appreciation for sub-tropical modernism defined the approach. The renovation seeks to revisit the brief for a family home in this climate, 30 years after the original home was conceived, without diminishing the intrinsic qualities of the architecture.

The placement of vertical circulation creates a break between the public and private wings of the home and generates a generous spacious void which delivers light into the new reception room at ground level. In addition to providing an informal greeting space for guests this generous new public space activates the courtyard and presents flexible living options for the family.

Replacing fixed glazing and narrow decks with operable walls, ventable clerestories, and inhabitable ledges allow the building to respond more passively to the weather. The bold geometries and naturals materials of the existing building directed the physical expression of the renovation.