Renovations

An incredible collaboration between the owners of a furniture company and the architects creates a light and bright coastal home.

You might be surprised how little extra space you need if you take the time to get the floor plan right...

By reimagining the way this existing addition functioned they were able to transform this home, adding only 15 square metres in total.

The clever addition has been sliced and diced to deal with all the constraints of the site, but it guarantees light, space and views.

If you focus on the basics first in sustainable house design, everything else becomes a bonus and your reduce greenwashing overwhelm.

A total rebuild of this terrace house was required, but glimpses of its history are exposed throughout the house.

Making the most of the site's assets, this new addition overlooks the lush park behind the home to stunning effect.

Can you have too many beds at a family beach house? A reno retains the character of this beloved beach house but maximises flexibility.

Ultimately council agreed to let them make some changes behind this heritage facade, convinced no one on the street would be the wiser.

Sadly lighting is an afterthought in many homes, but not here: a special lighting system demonstrates the potential of lighting design.

This 1960s home originally designed by Peter Johnson is updated to take advantage of its location without losing what makes it special.

Like a tiny, irritating grain of sand creating a lustrous pearl, sometimes a projects' constraints lead to the most charming solutions.

Renovating a heritage house the right way means you can enjoy the benefits of a modern home while respecting the house's history.

If you've ever harboured an urge to live in a trendy inner-city warehouse conversion, be prepared to have some feelings about this...

How do you get sun, light and a sense of space when your block is only 6 metres wide? This home has some solutions for narrow blocks.

Embracing the garden with a huge double-height space, 7 metre-wide door and patterned screen which fills the home with dappled shade.

Three distinct options and three years later they settled on a design, but when you're building forever, take the time to get it right!

This addition to a historic bluestone farmhouse doesn't match the original building, but it pays its respects in its own way...

Revealing the layers beneath this dilapidated home helps to blend old and new, weaving a rich story from the home's existing fabric.

When a couple who both have homes designed by the same architect get married, their new home together is bound to be adventurous!

New living areas and a backyard studio centred around a landscaped courtyard make this home perfect for current and future generations.

A new asymmetrical frame encloses the original shack, wrapping new living areas all around to take advantage of the views.

These owners didn't want a 'generic open-plan box'. Instead, a series of interconnected rooms are linked by a dramatic brick colonnade.

When you have to hike up and down stairs all day, they may as well be fun! A new stair brings light and novelty to this home.

A new two-storey addition transforms Bill and Kate's home, connecting it to the backyard and creates dramatic interior spaces.

Emulating the solidity of the original 150-year-old cottage, this concrete and brick addition is sure to be around in another 150 years!

In spite of a narrow block, this home expands its interior to the edge of the site, blurring the line between indoors and outdoors.

This home defies its tight site by using screening and careful window placement to grab light and views without exposing itself.

An addition to the front is just one of the atypical parts of this project full of surprises and innovative solutions.

A simple, two-room addition radically transforms the feeling and liveability of this previously dark, introverted home.

This family extended their Queenslander over the years, but something had to be done to pull it all together and make it liveable again.

A pavilion surrounded by garden brings living closer to the river, creating an additional living space with incredible views.

When you've got a tight block, you need to use every square centimetre. That's how you make a compact home feel spacious.

After removing walls and opening up both the internal space and to the outdoors, this home is virtually unrecognisable.

A new two-storey addition to the rear is transformational, bringing new light and life to this old, previously neglected home.

With housing (un)affordability growing and our city limits bursting, this project shows us there's still space in the inner city.

Bringing a sense of space and plenty of natural light to a narrow block is tough, but clever design and engineering make it possible.

Materials are reused in new and unusual ways in this renovation, instilling the home with unique personality - even the new parts!

The dramatic timber ceiling sails over new living spaces and outside, shading the home but retaining the best views.

A new opening with integrated seating transforms this home from dated colonial-style, to modern, minimal and cool. What a difference!

A double-storey addition sensitively extends the original home, unfurling from the original roofline to create a light-filled home.

Queenslander-style homes capture breezes and create shaded, naturally cool living spaces. This addition takes it to the next level.

To grab light without taking over the backyard, this addition pops its head over the original home, saying peekaboo to the street!

Instead of demolishing this unit, the architects reimagined it, transforming it into a modern and light-filled 3-bedroom home.

An efficiently-planned rear addition to this narrow house creates space and light to grow a family without losing the home's charm.

With exposed structure and a galley-style kitchen, this renovation takes its cues from the economical and practical fit-out of a ship.

In an area with challenging heritage overlays, Splice House fits an impressive modern addition within the allowable setbacks...

Courtyard House makes the most of a narrow, inner-city site, creating an urban oasis for a family of five now and into the future.

With modular, off-site construction you can remove the headaches of extending your home and still end up with a beautiful result.

The small, pokey and often dark spaces of many older homes don’t provide the space young families need, but you can change that...

The carefully crafted folds of the ancient art of origami create something new and unexpected. It's a similar story with this reno...

A new covered deck is the showpiece of this home's transformation, drawing its owners out to enjoy the backyard.

What this home lacks in a dining room is made up for with a fun, communal island bench for seven: a perfect way to host a dinner party.

With a folded roof form and charred timber cladding, Pleated House has plenty of flair for its design-conscious owners.

If the stress of renovating isn't enough for you, here's a way to step it up a gear: base your deadline around the arrival of a baby!

Lean-tos aren't renowned for their good design, but rethinking the classic design led to a functional and flexible home for this family.

Living in the inner-city means trading space for convenience. This project shows you, that trade-off isn't so bad.

Can a house be both a cosy refuge and open to the outdoors to create a breezy outdoor room? In this case, it can!

How do you extend an old cottage which used to belong to the client's mother? By reinterpreting the original cottage, that's how...

If your backyard doesn't face north, create a long side yard instead so you can enjoy the benefits of natural light and passive design.

A surprising, angular addition pops out of the rear of this home, but it does more than just look dramatic...

Originally a simple apartment renovation project turned into something more after discovering air rights would allow them to extend...

The lace-like screen protecting the rear of this home is a way to tie old and new together while also dealing with practicalities.

Like an annexe attached to the side of this solid home, BENT Annexe is an open-plan living area that feels more like a garden room.

Previously cut off from the backyard by a hefty level change, this new addition flows effortlessly between inside and out.

Friends said they were brave to buy their home. But who's laughing now after a breezy makeover transforms this 1970s hot mess.

Growing tired of the layout and design of your most home? Here are 8 home improvement ideas for 2019...

A tired 1970s apartment undergoes a massive transformation without relocating structure or services.

As soon as you enter the front door of this 1950s home, you are drawn to the light and openness of the new, rear addition.

By designing a new, open-plan addition to this heritage home, the owner has a light-filled space to inspire his creativity.

Buying an extra slice of land from the owners' corporation enabled this 1960s one-bedroom unit to become a modern three-bedroom home.

So many decisions when building or renovating. Architect Wesley Spencer tells us what not to do so we don't make a design faux pas...

This family were miserable in their south-facing living areas, but thanks to a clever addition, their home is now light and bright.

A south-facing backyard can feel like a curse, but an unconventional roofline could come to the rescue to let direct natural light in.

A strong visual and physical connection to the garden is achieved without significantly altering this inner-city terrace.

It's not the size of an addition that counts, it's the functionality it adds to your home. This micro addition achieves hefty results.

Extending heritage homes respectfully is a challenge. Allowing this addition to recede into the shadows was the sensitive approach.

New additions help this home to perform more like a traditional Queenslander, helping it fit perfectly with its site and climate.

The good qualities of both old and new are highlighted by creating an addition which is the binary opposite of the original.

On a tight, south-facing site, the various spaces of this addition are expertly arranged to ensure maximum benefit with minimal fuss.

The aperture-like addition to this heritage home carefully frames the best views and lets light into the new living spaces.

Sub-tropical climates require a special approach to design to ensure they are comfortable in the sticky summers and the cool winters.

A new addition prioritises light and a connection to the garden, transforming this 1940s house into an uplifting and modern home.

This modern addition is more like a supporting actor, allowing the charm and beauty of the original home to shine through.

A house that was once a post office felt frustratingly disconnected from the outdoors has been transformed into a breezy beach house.

Working with what was already there to create a modern family home had its challenges on this bushland site in the Blue Mountains.

Instead of sacrificing their productive garden, plants are encouraged to grow up the walls of this clever backyard studio.

This home takes advantage of its location near the Botanic Gardens to create a living area which feels like an extension of the garden.

This home holds special memories for the architect, Pat Jost, making it important to retain the elements that fill it with character.

This home had good bones, but forty years of use left it feeling tired. A clever facelift offers a fresh start for its new owners.

We've heard of tiny houses and micro-apartments, but could a micro addition be the answer to your space issues? Let's see...

Hiring an architect to design your new home or renovation is a big commitment. So how do you know you're making the right choice?

This house had become a squat and burnt down during the design stage, but Dean and Lisa transformed it into a modern, sustainable home.

Splitting this home into two separate pavilions creates flexible spaces which also solves a number of challenges.

On a long, narrow site, a courtyard is cleverly cut into this addition to allow the sun to stream into new living spaces.

A decked courtyard connects this existing home and extension, providing light, breezes and an indoor-outdoor connection to old and new.

Just because you have a narrow block without a north-facing backyard doesn't mean you have to sacrifice light, views and ventilation.

When you've got active young kids, your home must be robust enough to withstand a lot of punishment. This kitchen is built to last.

The new living area of this heritage home captures glimpses of the sky and opens seamlessly to the outdoors.

Sometimes, reevaluating and reconfiguring what you have proves that you already have enough. It did for this family of five...