Sound garden

Di’s cherished backyard music studio made way for a stylish new small dwelling, reusing many of its materials.

Secondary dwellings can take a variety of forms, and Di explored many of them in the search for the perfect one for her backyard. Initially, the addition to her modest 1950s home in Keperra, Brisbane, was designed for her own use, then as circumstances changed it was tweaked for her mother and finally for her father Bob, who is living with Parkinson’s disease. Friend and designer-builder Davo Pauli came up with a solution that ultimately will suit all three of them, accommodating a multitude of different needs.

The one-bedroom garden studio sits on the site of a former shed that Di and her friends (including Davo) used for music jamming. The new suspended floor hovers over the old slab, with the original retaining wall forming a transition between the studio and the established native and food garden around a fire pit. Timber trusses from the shed were painted by Di and reinstated as a feature in the studio, supporting raked ply ceilings. The shed’s roof sheeting was reused as wall cladding, and flooring salvaged from a demolished house features in the recesses along the north side. The framing of the rear shed wall has been retained to form a future garden trellis.

Davo took great care to design and build around the garden’s existing trees; they provide shade, food for raucous visiting birds and a level of privacy between the two dwellings and the neighbours. He suggested placing the studio close to the northern boundary to preserve the established garden, arguing that most of the year in Brisbane, a shady southern outlook can be an asset. “The fire pit area is actually one of the most beautiful parts of the property,” Di reflects. The main house has a lovely back deck where Di can sit and enjoy a coffee, watch the birds on the custom-made roost at the studio’s gable, see the sunrise reflected in the studio’s window and talk to her dad on his small neighbouring deck. Davo has amply succeeded in his goal of “creating a village” on the block: two homes together but separate.

Bob loves his new home. “He says lovely things like ‘I look forward to every day here’,” says Di happily. In the mornings and evenings when his medications are less effective, he uses a wheelchair; spaces in the studio are generous to allow wheelchair circulation, including an appealing accessible bathroom. Floors are finished in cork, both for aesthetics and to reduce the risk of injury from falls. Kitchen and bathroom cabinetry can be modified down the track to provide full-time wheelchair access, and Di is currently waiting on funding from the NDIS to assist with resurfacing the garden path for Bob to navigate more safely on his motorised scooter.

Davo worked hard to contain Di’s initial desire for a larger build. Now that the 66-square-metre studio is finished, she’s very pleased with the compact design and resulting generous green space. Having worked on the design with Davo and helped out at times during the build, and because it features so many elements of her old shed, she feels that she has a special bond with the structure. “It’s more than just a building,” she says.

For Davo, this first project for his own design-build operation Jointbah was a steep but satisfying learning curve. “Overall, I feel both relief and joy seeing Di and her old man really happy with the final result,” he says.