House profiles
Elevated thinking
In Perth’s beachside Coogee, where a trend towards ever-larger houses on shrinking lot sizes is the norm, this family home is a striking anomaly.
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New build
Testing ground
Joel and Danni Turner, with architect Nikki Mote, experimented with hempcrete for a compact studio to finetune the design and build for their future family house.
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New build
An uplifting prospect
Set in a biodiverse landscape 700m above sea level in Queensland’s Great Dividing Range, this small-footprint home is built to withstand the fire threat and extreme temperature fluctuations.
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New build
Glorifying tents
We’ve all heard the gripe that Australian houses perform no better than glorified tents, but architects are taking inspiration from these age-old forms. The houses showcased here demonstrate how long-held understandings about shelter have a role to play in climate-responsive design.
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New build
Raw materials
Architect Paul O’Reilly employed passive solar design principles and raw and prefinished materials to great effect for his sister’s house near Margaret River, WA.
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New build
Tune up
A U-shaped house on a tight suburban block optimises privacy and passive solar design and creates secluded spaces to sit, depending on the sun and season.
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New build
Free-cycled style
Built to tread lightly on the land, this artist’s home in America’s Pacific Northwest makes elegant use of salvaged materials.
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New build
Cottage cathedralette
Reversing the room layout and building on the same footprint as the original cottage were key to achieving a spacious, flexible new home that preserves this Melbourne horticulturalist’s beloved inner-city food garden.
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House profiles
Back to basics
Good design need not be expensive – as architect Andrew Kerr demonstrates with his Tassie ‘apple crate shack’ built to 7.1 Stars on a $100k budget.
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House profiles
Island off-grid
Fitted with a modern take on punkah fans and the latest in battery tech, an experimental off-grid house on South Stradbroke Island is the result of a dynamic collaboration between architects Tim Bennetton and Gabriel Poole.
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New build
Coastal cliff hanger
Too steep for use as a backyard, the rear of a Central Coast block now hosts a versatile, energy-efficient studio with enviable sea views – thanks to some ingenious engineering solutions.
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