New Homes

Explore our collection of New Homes
featured on Lunchbox Architect.

New homes provide the opportunity for a completely custom design. Even on a modest budget, architects can design an affordable new home that’s perfectly suited to your needs.

This is our selection of stunning architecturally designed new homes:

A Multi-purpose Space to Work, Relax, Entertain and Enjoy the Views

Perched dramatically on a steep slope overlooking the ocean, this separate studio is the perfect retreat for work, rest or play.

When Fans of Mid-century Design Saw Mishack, They Saw a Kindred Spirit

This modern home captures the spirit of mid-century design, with a taste of American diner-style breakfast booths for good measure.

 (via Lunchbox Architect)
Houses Awards Shortlist 2018. Will You Pick a Winner?

Houses Awards 2018 shortlist was announced recently, will you pick a winner? Also a story about what a sad child I was...

Two Pavilions Encourage a Sociable Lifestyle and Embrace the Bush

Two Halves House steps down the landscape, separated into a sociable living space and a private sleeping zone.

A Small Home With Big Volumes Designed to Embrace its Cool Climate

Built in an area that sometimes encounters snow, this home in the hills has a small footprint, but large volumes make it feel spacious.

This is the Trick to Adapting a Church for Modern Living

Old churches can be a challenge to transform into a home. There's the need to balance history and practicality. This is how you do it.

Shipping Container House Floats Among the Trees with Ocean Views

We're all a little bit obsessed with shipping container houses. You'll understand why once you take a look at this home...

A Sheltered Courtyard Protects From This Exposed Location

At the top of the hill overlooking Peka Peka Beach, this location could be hostile, but this home has a few tricks up its sleeve...

Tent House Challenges the Expectations of What a Weekend House Can Be

A retreat built by the architect and a group of architecture students is a hands-on, experimental process from design to construction.

A Home for Retired Musicians Has a Concert Hall-inspired Living Space

A shared love of music inspired this accessible, environmental and acoustically-conscious home for a retired couple.

A Home Built Around Connection With Each Other and the Landscape

With open-plan living and shared sleeping areas all opening onto the outdoors, this is a home to connect with nature and each other.

This Sydney Home Turns the Traditional Aussie House on its Side

A typical Australian home uses the full width of the block and puts a garden in front and out the back; this home is far from typical.

A New Breed of Bushfire Resistant Homes are Sprouting in Wye River

After the bushfire of 2015, Wye River slowly rebuilds. Let's hope all the new homes are as beautiful and sympathetic as this one...

A Courtyard for Outdoor Living Helps a Hobart Family to Downsize

Blessed with a large block in a good area, this family decided to downsize in the backyard, in spite of the constraints.

A Home That Explores Communal Living for Adults

This flexible new home built behind the existing is accessible by rear laneway; it could be used as a garage, studio or living space.

A Flexible, Multi-purpose Studio That Requires Very Little Land

By designing a separate, self-contained studio, this family have gained the extra space they need now and flexibility into the future.

Modern Timber Beach House Still Achieves Bushfire and Energy Ratings

Clever thinking achieves a simple timber beach house the client desired while still meeting bushfire and energy efficiency regulations.

A Distorted Roofline Conceals a Surreptitious Second Storey

In a street of single-storey timber houses, this playful new home reinterprets its neighbours so it feels at home in the street.

An Off-Grid, Sustainable House in the Victorian Central Highlands

Sitting sympathetically in an open paddock, this off-grid house captures views without compromising on environmental performance.

A Recycled Brick Garden Wall Creates an Inner-City Sanctuary

By dividing a complicated inner-city block into a patchwork, a new home sits comfortably between heritage buildings and gritty laneway.

Creative Entrepreneur Builds Home to Balance Design and Affordability

Experimenting with ideas of affordability without sacrificing liveability, North Street House is the perfect home for a young couple.

A Compact Home Makes the Most of Light and Space on a Tight Block

Bucking the trend of bigger houses on smaller blocks, this compact home borrows outdoor light and views to feel more spacious.

The Newest House on the Street Looks Like It Could Be the Oldest

Thanks to recycled brick, this new studio looks like it could be the oldest building in this Richmond laneway.

Turns Out Hemp Is Useful for More Than Rope and Yoga Pants

Built from rammed earth, timber and hempcrete, this home is a healthy and environmentally sensitive space for three generations.

A Home Designed to Get Better With Age, Just Like Its Retiree Owners

Precast concrete and timber combine to create a low-maintenance home that will get better with age.

This Country Shack Feels More Like a Tent or a Boat in the Landscape

Metaphors of sailing a yacht or camping out in a tent are conjured in this home on the banks of the Avon River.

A Contemporary House Puts A Modern Spin on Its Neighbourhood

Datum House uses the scale and proportions of its neighbours as the starting point for a modern and light-filled home.

A Modern Australian Home Nestles Into Stunning Natural Landscape

A combination of bricks, timber, corrugated iron and translucent sheeting help this home complement its semi-rural landscape.

This is How You Deal With an Unusual Triangular Site...

What do you do with a triangular site? Perhaps the best solution is to think outside of the box. Or triangle, as the case may be...

An Urban Take on the Traditional Aussie Beach House in Torquay

As Torquay becomes increasingly cosmopolitan with more permanent residents architects are rethinking the traditional Aussie beach house.

A Courtyard Connects Living and Sleeping Areas at this Beach House

Just a short walk from the beach and surrounded by Moona trees, a central courtyard is the link between this home and the landscape.

A Unique Family Home Covered Entirely By a Tent Structure

Tucked away in Noosa's bushy hinterland is a tent house - a place that gives the sense of permanent camping without sacrifice...

This Charming Home Is Inspired by Early Colonial Workers' Cottages

Dubbed the Urban Cottage, this modern take on a workers' cottage feels fresh and contemporary in-spite of its early colonial roots.

In a Neighbourhood of Workers' Cottages, There's One Dark Horse

Black sheep. Odd one out. Dark horse. Whatever you want to call it, there's something different about this home - and we love it!

A Tropical Home for a Couple to Sit Back and Enjoy the Bush Setting

A home near Noosa is designed for the area's sub-tropical climate and to maximise the owner's enjoyment of the bush setting.

This Modern Tropical Home is a Granny Flat for a Hip Elderly Couple

A modern retreat for an elderly couple built on the family property - the perfect spot to enjoy retirement close to family.

A Rural Retreat Fit for an '80s Pop Star and His Creative Family

Built for a family bursting with creative souls, this shack needed to be as stylish and as interesting as the people living in it.

Rusty and Weathered, This Home Looks Like It Has Been Here Forever

Built from recycled timber and rusting steel, this Mt Duneed home already looks old, yet is built to last with little maintenance.

A Home On a Challenging Site is Designed to Resist Bushfire

Built on a challenging site with significant bushfire risk, this home enjoys amazing views over bushland in the Macedon Ranges.

There's a Fully Equipped House Tucked Into This Suburban Backyard

This striking house of contrasting black and white with touches of warming timber is exciting and dynamic in-spite of its compact size.

Prefab-ulous Digs for a Couple of Jackaroos on This Malmsbury Farm

Staff quarters never looked so good. This prefab house is a modern and comfortable place to wind down after a long day on the farm.

Beachside Homes Inspired by a Nearby Pier's Proportions and Detailing

These two homes are built on a pier structure that highlights their unique creek-side location near the Mornington foreshore.

A Courtyard Brings in Light, Breezes and Ensures a Garden Outlook

House_B is essentially a C-shape, wrapping around a central courtyard to maximise light and breezes to the home. That gets an A+ from us.

Holiday Shack Blends Mid Century Modern with Australian Rural Shed

Inspired by Mid-century design with a touch of Aussie shed, this stylish shack is the perfect combination of cool and practical.

A Dramatically Modern Modular Home in Northcote

In contrast to the neighbouring weatherboard houses, this crisp, modern modular home makes a huge statement in this Melbourne street.

This Home Is Grounded Into Its Site by Walls of Gabion Baskets

A home set in an expansive garden is divided and sheltered into quadrants by cross-shaped Gabion baskets, creating a variety of spaces.

Modern Family Home Designed with Flexibility and Adaptability in Mind

Designing a family home is challenging because the family's needs change as they grow, that's why you have to plan for change.

This Off-Grid Prefab House Is Perfect for Beautiful but Isolated Site

To construct this off-grid home on Victoria's French Island, prefabricated modules had to be transported by barge to the isolated site.

Barny in Bank Street is an Urban Barn Perfect for Modern Living

Living in a barn is one thing, but living in a barn in the city? Well that sounds absurd, but it's a reality for this lucky family.

Folded Facades Give Two Identical Homes Their Own Identity

For cost efficiency this project creates two identical houses, but thanks to a clever folded facade each home fits the site.

Simple Details and Honest Materials Reflect Harsh Beauty of this Site

After the 2003 Canberra bushfires, this site was rereleased. The new home explores the idea of new beginnings for a young family.

A Modern Home Designed With Deference to Heritage Suburb

This double storey home is designed to look like a single storey home so it fits into its heritage neighbourhood.

"Rigorously Contemporary" Home in an Historical Neighbourhood

This modern home in an historic neighbourhood was designed by an architect as a home for him and his family.

A Modern Off-Grid Eco-House Surrounded by a Permaculture Farm

Supporting the clients' desire for a sustainable lifestyle, this off-grid home uses passive solar design to reduce energy consumption.

A Smaller Home Allows for Immaculate Details and Rich Materials

If you want the look and feel of luxury at your home, it pays to think a bit smaller and pay attention to the details.

Choose Flexibility Over Footprint to Save Money and Energy

With sliding doors and a fold down bed, a rumpus room/third bedroom provides built in flexibility while reducing the overall footprint.

Home Among the Gum Trees Makes the Most of a Sloped Site

This family home is nestled amongst the gums, cantilevering over the sloped site so it feels more like a treehouse than a regular home.

Former Site of a Public Toilet Becomes a High Tech Tower for Living

In Christchurch, a city still recovering from a devastating series of earthquakes, many are rethinking how they use their public space.

From Disused Inner-City Car Park to a Compact Family Home

From the street this modern take on the other single storey cottage in the neighbourhood. But things get interesting quickly...

'Your House Is Like a Box' Can No Longer Be Considered an Insult...

A young Wellington couple with a modest budget and small and challenging block chose a Box™ design-build for their first home.

This Townhouse on a Small Block Stacks the Backyard on the Roof

How to deal with a small block? Don't sacrifice the backyard, stack it on top of the house and you've got a sophisticated roof deck!

Striking Prefabricated Home Settles Into This Stunning Rural Site

Clad in COLORBOND® steel with a contemporary take on the traditional pitched roof, this prefab house looks right at home in the bush.

An Energy Efficient Home Designed for its Owners to Age-in-Place

With an ageing population our homes must be designed to allow us to live in them as long as possible. This house shows us how.

When You Live in the Tropics, You Need a Home for Outdoor Living

Melaleuca House was designed to embrace an outdoor lifestyle for a family relocating from Darwin to more rural Howard Springs.

Australian Retreat Designed to Encourage a Laid-back Lifestyle

Waitpinga Retreat designed as a casual getaway immersed in the natural beauty of nature looks and feels very Australian.

A Thoughtful Home for an Elderly Widower and His Visiting Family

Built on a site with huge sentimental value, this home built for an elderly WWII veteran is low-maintenance, accessible and secure.

Love to Entertain? A Party at This House Can Spill Into the Courtyard

A home for entertainers who also travel a lot. Claremont Residence expands for parties or locks down when the owners are away.

Two Uninspiring Cabins Bought for a Steal Become a Stylish Retreat

These two cabins have become something much grander than the typical granny flat or affordable beach shack they're usually used for...

Like a Periscope, This House Curves to Capture the Best Views

With the sun and a majestic tree in one direction and views of a distant nature reserve in the other, this home manages to have it all.

A Modern Take on a Timber Workers Cottage Fits in to Brisbane Street

With copious amounts of timber inside and out, this modern interpretation of a workers cottage feels natural, warm and welcoming.

This Couple Built Two Houses. One to Live In and One to Sell...

This duplex development isn't what we have come to expect. It actively avoids placing garages on the street as an homage to the car.

Ingenious 'Sun Shells' Grab Light and Reflect It Deep Into This Home

Watch the clouds float by in this home which has an unexpected sense of space and light in spite of its narrow, overshadowed site.

Take One Look at This Home and Guess What The Owners Do for a Living

Built almost entirely from concrete, this striking new home makes a solid statement. It's also pretty good advertising for the owners!

Downsizing From Heritage Farmhouse to This Contemporary Humble House

When this couple retired the farm they wanted a more manageable and contemporary home that incorporated memories of their past life.

Could This Gardenhouse Be the Solution to Australia's Urban Sprawl?

Searching for a sustainable alternative to urban sprawl, REFRESH*DESIGN have developed an infill-development branded ‘my gardenhouse’.

House Built on Top of a Sand Dune to Take in the Best View

This two storey house near the beach was designed like an arrangement of stacked boxes to create protected balconies and decks.

This Green Roofed Beach House Arrived on the Back of a Truck

With a green roof and other sustainable elements this beach-side residence touches the earth lightly physically and metaphorically.

Marrickville Courtyard House is a Subdivision that Doesn't Dominate

Carefully planned around a central courtyard to maximise light and connection to the garden while minimising its impact on the street.

Naranga Avenue House: You Haven't Seen Breeze Blocks Like This Before

Inspired by the surrounding '60s estate, James Russell Architects takes the humble breeze block to new heights of style.

Sculptural Hilltop Home and Writer's Studio the Perfect Entertainer

New Zealand home and writer's studio fuses the look of rural farm buildings and the dramatic local landscape into one sculptural form.

This Prefab House Solves the Age-Old Problem of Open Plan Living

The curse of the modern open-plan home? Noise. With flexible social spaces, parents in this house can entertain separately to the kids.

Compact Japanese-Inspired House Lives Large Thanks to a Wall of Glass

Thanks to a double-height space and an expansive openable wall of glass to capture the view, this home feels positively spacious.

With Translucent Walls This Minimal Home Melts into the Landscape

The most minimal house you could imagine - a platform for living within a translucent shell, set in a beautiful natural landscape.

Rusting Corrugated Iron on this Stunning Home is Like Rural Camouflage

The perfect retreat for a director and camera operator in the film industry, this home has no shortage of cinematic drama.

Industrial Home/Studio Compliments Illustrator's Punchy Aesthetic

A compact weatherboard cottage explodes from the sides of a prefabricated shed to provide space for an illustrator to live and work.

This Relaxed Home Channels the Relaxed Vibe of a Traditional NZ Bach

This home is "designed to give the same carefree relaxing ambience as a bach - step in, kick off your shoes and grab a glass of wine."

Warm NZ House Designed to Embrace the Sun and View of Tasman Bay

A warm new home for a young family wraps around a courtyard space to create a protected area for the kids to play and the family to enjoy the stunning ocean views.

Architecture Students Also Design and Build Two Community Houses

Studio 19 are at it again, designing two stunning community houses for a not-for-profit organisation in New Zealand.

Beach House Designed and Built by a Group of Architecture Students

Small in both budget and footprint, but clever thinking and innovative solutions have produced a home which ticks all the boxes...

A Home That Embraces and Enhances the Site's Unique Natural Features

A magnificent 100 year old fig tree and a small creek are treated as sacred elements in this home which embraces its environment.

A Compact, Sustainable and Affordable Alternative to Project Homes

There's not much diversity (or sustainability) in your average project home. With a bit of luck, Erpingham House will change all that.

A Home in the Middle of the Desert Embraces its Scorched Surrounds

In the Californian desert temperatures can soar to over 40 degrees. This family built a home without air-conditioning - are they mad?

A Single-Space Living Area Helps this Compact Home to Feel Spacious

The smallest house on the block contains one of the largest rooms. What this house lacks in square metres it makes up for in volume.

Inner-City Lost Space is Transformed by this Infill Development

We don't often feature multi-residential projects. But when we do, they're beautifully innovative projects like this one.

Heritage Listed Chicory Kiln on Phillip Island is Infinitely Flexible

A heritage-listed chicory kiln on Phillip Island is transformed into a delightfully playful residence for a couple.

A Modern Farm House with a Traditional Farm-Style Verandah

While this modern farm house feels shiny and new, traditional elements like the generous verandah gives it the best of both worlds.

Two Living Pavilions Under One Roof Open Onto an Outdoor Covered Deck

The use of up to 75 per cent recycled timber as structure and cladding brings warmth and variety to this modern beach house.

Almost Watertank-Like, Curved Corrugated Iron Feels Very Australian

Sweeping views of hills, beach, rocks and ocean inspired the fan shaped plan of Fleurieu Beach House - a model for coastal living.

Self-Sufficient, Flood Proof Home Floats Over Australian Bushland

Completely off-grid and raised up to avoid occasional flooding, Platypus Bend House cantilevers spectacularly over a bushland clearing.

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