Renovations

Explore our collection of Renovations
featured on Lunchbox Architect.

Renovations and additions to existing houses are the most common architecturally designed homes. The challenge with renovations is to incorporate the style and layout of the existing building with the modern needs of the family. When down well, renovations combine the charm of traditional buildings with the conveniences of modern living.

Here are just a few incredible architecturally designed renovations:

How to Create a Modern, Flexible and Bright Space on a Narrow Block

Renovating an older, inner-city home comes with a peculiar set of challenges - how to make it seem bright and spacious when it's not.

Heritage Homes Are Romantic, but They're a Challenge to Renovate

An architect wrestles with the romance of renovating a historic home and the challenge of meeting planning and regulatory requirements.

Narrow Terrace Hides Several Space-defying Surprises

A double-height space. An internal courtyard. A huge skylight. All tricks to create a sense of space hidden behind a narrow terrace.

Twin Gables, Rather Than Extra Floor Area, Give the Illusion of Space

The rear of this home is redesigned to give an air of spaciousness, with an internal reconfiguration and the addition of two gables.

What to Do When You Outgrow Your House but Love Your Neighbourhood?

Craving more space (and sun) and considering a move? Are you really better off uprooting your family and moving somewhere new?

This Joyful House Brings in Light and Opens Onto the Garden

A family of five create a joyful home with a series of open, colourful and light-filled spaces for their energetic young family.

There Is an Abundance of Light at the End of This Quirky Tunnel

A dark tunnel transforms into a bright, open space at this Cremorne terrace which celebrates the transition from old to new.

Some Simple Modifications Transform This Unrenovated Family Home

Simple, yet intelligent changes, which reference to the home's post-war cream brick heritage create a period drama of a difference.

A Sunny Glass Box Helps This Bluestone Cottage Connect to the Garden

Owned by a landscape gardener, this 1880s bluestone cottage is now connected to the garden and full of natural light and sea breezes.

A Fun-Filled Addition Peaks Above This Californian Bungalow

It's Playtime in this fun-filled extension with secret hatches, a bridge, sloped walls and an aquarium of curious creatures.

This Is How You Transform a Tight and Dingy Terrace Without Extending

An architect, a builder, and a joiner walk into a dark and dingy terrace...

A Mexican-inspired Swiss Chalet in the Australian Bush... What?!

The architectural equivalent of a lamington made with Swiss cheese and dusted with paprika sounds like a recipe for disaster, but is it?

A Cozy, Nest-Like Mezzanine Studio Floats Above This Living Space

To unite all living spaces without creating one large space, a unique nest-like studio sits above the living area in this reno.

A Roofed Deck Provides Functional Outdoor Living Space

This heritage home has been renovated with new living spaces. A covered outdoor space ties all these new spaces together.

Rhythm House: A Home Designed for a Family of Musicians

This extension provides new living areas, a specialised sound recording space and performance area for a family of musicians.

Take a Look at the Kitchen of This Renowned Chef and Restaurateur

The kitchen is the heart of Chef and Restaurateur, Scott Pickett's home, making it the perfect place to entertain friends and family.

What Happens When We Let Go of the Buy, Rent, Flip Mentality?

Creating a family home requires more than a coat of paint and some pretty cushions. It requires good design and long-term thinking.

A Modern Addition Tucked Under an Extension of the Original Roofline

By working with the original roofline of this Federation home, the designer created a light-filled and spacious addition.

How Can You Fit a Family of Six in 140 Square Metres?

This compact family home uses the power of the sun for heating and cooling, keeping a family of six happy and comfortable.

Architects Design an Economical Addition to Their 1950s Home

A new addition slides under the eaves of this home, complementing the 1950s original, but reflecting the changing needs of Australians.

A Quirky Renovation Beautifully Reinterprets this 1930s Bungalow

Inspired by the whimsical flourishes of the original 1930s home this renovation reinterprets brick sunbursts and Tudor detailing.

Don't Be Fooled By The Classic Gabled Exterior, This is a Fun Home

This home manages to be thoroughly modern while mimicking the classic gabled form of children's drawings and doll's houses.

Meet the Modular Home Design Inspired by a Piece of IKEA Furniture

With a grid system and the flexibility to adapt to various sites and needs, Allen Key House is the 'Billy' of the housing world.

This Renovation Turns the Traditional Terrace Layout on its Head

Where a traditional terrace is dark and cellular this renovation finds light and open space, creating an addition of contrasts.

Casa Famiglia Updates a Home with Generations of Memories

How does an architect update and extend a home that's been in the family for years? Without whitewashing the history and memories?

A Compact Home Was Made Even Smaller but the Outcome is Extraordinary

This compact home was made even smaller yet better, proving the amount of space you have is less important than how you use it...

Removing Internal Walls Gives This Home a Modern Open-Plan Vibe

By removing the internal walls of this unit and incorporating plenty of built-in joinery, it feels more spacious and modern.

This Fun-Filled Apartment Renovation Has a Rock Climbing Wall

Armed with a fun and adventurous brief, the architects of this apartment reno created a family home with surprises around every corner.

Renovation for Modern Living Retains this Edwardian Home's Soul

A beautiful attention to details and respect for the original home creates a modern space that effortlessly blends old and new.

This Rear Addition Feels at Home in Its Gritty, Inner-Urban Suburb

An extension designed to appear more like a random collection sheds belies the clever, considered spaces within.

Urban Green House Creates a Sunny, Healthy, Happy, Inner-City Home

Application of passive design principles creates a living, breathing, sustainable space that is a pleasure to inhabit.

Modern Barn Outside, Minimal Studio and Gallery Space Inside

A new studio space and garage are positioned on this rural property to create a sheltered entry for the exisiting home.

This Light-Filled, Happy Addition Pays Homage to the Sun

This new living space is a sun-lover. Turning to face the sun, it is also a fun and happy space, not to mention a cost-saver.

Why Does the Bathroom Often Have the Best View in Workers Cottages?

Like many un-renovated inner-city homes, the bathroom of this Melbourne workers cottage had the best light and views in the house!

Curving and Perching Overhead, This Addition is Playful and Light

Perched House is a renovation that defies perceptions - feeling much larger than it actually is thanks to some clever tricks.

A Modern Wooden Box Extension Complements a Century Old Weatherboard

An elegant timber extension at the rear of this heritage home is bathed in natural light thanks to its northern orientation.

With Good Design Even the Smallest of Spaces Can Live Large

This compact addition proves small spaces can be highly liveable with plenty of storage, daylighting and a connection to the outdoors.

These Owners Take Their Love of Gardening to New Heights

A deep soil green roof improves this home's environmental credentials, looks great and satisfies the owners' love of gardening.

Glazed Roof Floats Like a Leaf Capturing Views of Trees and Sky

A bold new living, dining and kitchen space grabs views of the trees and manages to fit a veggie garden in the most surprising place...

New Master Bedroom Pod for a "Very, Very Deserving Mum"...

After buying a "rough" knocker-downer in the 'burbs, builder/designer/snow boarder, Robbie Walker decided to renovate instead.

Living and Alfresco Pavilion Captures the Sun and Connects the Garden

A new living pavilion built from concrete blocks and with large windows facing the sun contrasts with the original weatherboard home.

Can Your Home Help to Prevent (or Even Cure) Mental Health Problems?

This architect used the renovation of his home to improve his mental health and immunise himself and his family for the future.

Crazy About Cats? We May Have Found Your Perfect Inner-City Abode...

If fur-babies, travel, colour and fun are ticking some mental boxes for you, you'll love Casa de Gatos (or 'House of Cats' in Spanish).

New Spaces Sit Above and Behind this Existing Heritage Building

Careful to leave much of this heritage building intact, the architects have created new spaces above and behind the existing home.

This Reno Feels Light and Bright Despite Being Hemmed in on All Sides

If your neighbours are too close for comfort, focus on natural light. Your home will feel spacious and you'll forget they're there...

A White Box is 'Plugged' Into the Side of This Existing Home

A breakout area and new master bedroom within a self-contained white box give this Fremantle home more flexibility and room to breathe.

Simple Tricks Give This Compact Home the Illusion of Spaciousness

Your home doesn't need to be physically big to feel spacious. There are a few tricks to make your home feel larger than life.

This Elsternwick Home Delights on a Narrow, Tightly Constrained Block

In a suburb of houses three times its size this home makes the most of its narrow block and compact size by capturing views of the sky.

Modernist 1970s Home Addresses its Shortcomings For 21st Century Life

A home rich with character is updated to improve comfort, privacy and connection to the landscape without losing its vintage feel.

Is it Time to Ditch the Formal Dining and Prioritise Living?

This professional couple felt constrained by an outdated floor plan that sacrificed living areas for circulation and formal dining...

Subterranean Living Space Transformed by a Huge Skylight

With low ceilings and only the rear of this living area above ground level, this terrace needed something big to feel like a home...

North Facing Living Spaces Provide Space and Light to This Home

This 1920s home was transformed by an extension that refocusses living areas and a master retreat on a new north-facing courtyard.

1970s Apartment Update for a Professional Couple and Their Bulldog

By opening up to kitchen to the living area and creating a better connection to the deck, this apartment makes better use of its space.

Daylesford Cottage Updated with Sensitive, Japanese-Inspired Addition

With the option to demolish and start from scratch, MRTN Architects instead create a sensitive addition to this Victorian cottage.

What Surprises Are Hiding Behind This Humble Victorian-Era Facade?

'Ethel' has a number of delightful surprises up her sleeve, proving there's more to this humble Victorian home than she lets on...

New Studio Builds Future Flexibility Into This Hawthorn Home

A studio connected to the main house by a decked walkway creates maximum flexibility (and reduces renovation stress) for this family.

1970s Home Opens Up Front and Back to Connect Indoors and Outdoors

A series of small additions left this home's living areas dark and detached from the garden, but Trace Studio have changed all that.

A Translucent Studio Creates a Soft Backdrop for an Inner City Yard

A garage and studio with seperate access from the laneway is a flexible and sensitive space at the rear of this inner-city terrace.

Could You Live Overseas During the Construction of Your Home?

With a good architect, much of the stress of building can be alleviated. This home was renovated while the owners were overseas!

Clever Joinery and a Motto of Doing More With Less Is the Answer

Updates to this elegant, but out-of-touch 1940s home hark back to the era it was built - when houses were small but functional.

Proof Even the Slightest Alteration Can Have a Dramatic Impact

Small changes can make a huge difference to the comfort and practicality of a home. New windows and a pivot door transform this studio.

A Stunning Timber Lined Clerestory is the Centrepiece of This Reno

This renovated interwar house is now perfect home for a retired couple and adult family member plus a meeting place for nearby family.

Turning Two Art Deco Duplex Apartments Into One Modern Family Home

'When Two Become One'. Not just a Spice Girls hit, also the story of transforming two duplex apartments into one cohesive family home.

A Beautiful Old Beach Shack Retains Its Classic Charms

"There are too many beautiful old shacks being demolished, and Austin Maynard Architects won’t be part of it."

New Life for a Victorian-Era House Fit for Multi-Generational Living

Reimagining a heritage home to fulfil the modern needs of three generations of the one family, highlighting its layered history.

Light Streams Into This Compact yet Versatile Open-Plan Living Area

Combining rich, raw materials and plenty of natural light, this compact living area feels larger and more luxurious than its footprint.

Barn Conversion Does "As Much As Necessary, As Little As Possible"

This incredible barn conversion retains much of the original stone and timber work highlighted against new insertions where necessary.

Backyard Extension Takes its Cues from Nearby Buildings and Garages

This light-filled extension has an industrial feel to it thanks to using the mix of nearby garages and light industry as inspiration.

"Hindsight; all the things I would have done as a new parent."

Apartment living for new parents is not very common in Australia. Can it be done, or is the siren call of the suburbs too strong?

Turned Upside Down and Internal Walls Removed for a Sunnier Outlook

An internal renovation which opens up spaces and turns the house upside down to put living areas on the brighter, airier, upper floor.

An Unexpectedly Colourful and Playful Addition to a Heritage Home

From the heritage facade you'd never expect to find this light-filled, colourful and playful home which spills into the backyard.

A New Living Pod Creates a Central Courtyard at This Brunswick Home

Set well away from the original house, this new addition creates a central courtyard which all living areas wrap around.

A New Study and Bedroom Pops up on Top of This Brunswick Home

An architect squeezes a new study and bedroom in the only available space on this tight Melbourne block - above the living area.

Footscray Apartment Renovated for More Flexibility and Light

An unorthodox, but clever, renovation creates a series of light-filled flexible living spaces and creates the illusion of space.

Renovation Achieves an Energy Positive and Income Generating Home

A passive design and solar panels creates a comfortable house year-round which also generates income for this family.

Clever Renovation Creates New Building Over Bones of the Original

Renovation uses half of the original roof structure to create a new raked roof and wraps the original fibro shack in new cladding.

Relocating the Bathroom Transforms This Heritage Apartment

It can be costly, but moving the 'unmovable' like a bathroom or kitchen in your renovation could be the best decision you'll make.

Internal Reconfiguration Ties Together the Layers of History

Brunswick Californian had already been extended, but connected poorly to the original. New internal works create a cohesive home.

Designing a Cost and Environmentally Effective Addition to a Home

Unlike many of the ubiquitous lean-to-style additions in the area, this modern lean-to transforms the original home.

This Extension Makes Smart, Effective Use of Very Tight Spaces

Every square metre counts when you don't have much space. You need to be smart and make every element do more than one thing...

What Happens When Mid-Century Modern Fuses with Japanese Zen?

This Sydney apartment has undergone a clever and refreshing renovation which uses joinery and detailing to create a grounding calm.

Transforming a Renovator's Nightmare on Seriously Triangular Site

Take a tiny, acutely triangular site, add a demanding heritage context and you've given your architect a challenge. But look what she did!

Tiny Addition Proves How Useful a Small, Considered Space Can Be

Measuring in at just 11 square metres of additional space, this tiny addition punches above its weight for its size.

Exploring What a Modern Australian Home Should Look (and Feel) Like

What happens if you take historic Adelaide housing and give it a modern, considered and environmentally conscious twist?

What To Do If the Best View in the House is From the Laundry Tub

A new extension negotiates the slope of the land, looking out to the view and connecting the living area to the garden.

Making the Spaces in Your Home Work for the Way You Live as a Family

With our home that was feeling a bit tired and out of step with the way this family lives, a rethink and renovation was in order.

Is Some Private Adult Space and More Storage on Your List of Wants?

Finding a way to create a private retreat space for the parents of a growing family plus extra storage area in a heritage home...

Inspired by the Local Area Quarry House is All Bricks and 'Bluestone'

Brunswick has a rich history of bluestone quarries and brickworks. Quarry House updates a Victorian terrace with this history in mind.

Apartment Renovation Turns Out to be the Perfect Retirement Plan

In this woman's retirement plan? A desire to downsize and determination to age in graceful style in a city central apartment.

A Building at the Back of the Garden Solves a Lot of Problems

A building at the bottom of this Perth garden contains a music studio and sleeping loft while connecting to semi-outdoor living areas.

Step Inside a Home Inspired by Tranquil, Forested Clearings

Arranged around three courtyards, this new open-plan extension is a delightful counterpoint to the existing Californian Bungalow.

No Need for an Extension Where a Clever Internal Redesign Will Work

At their Toorak Texture project, NORTHBOURNE Architecture + Design quickly realised there was no need to waste time and money extending.

A Home Doesn't Need to be Large to Be a Palace

'Kensington Palace' challenges the idea that a home needs to be expensive and expansive to be your dream home.

You've Heard of Flipping Houses, But This Home Gets a Different Flip

With a living area facing a busy road, a separate and congested kitchen and an under-utilised backyard, this home needed flipping...

Dark 1980s Home in Rural Australia Gets a Modern Reboot

Like all good '80s movies, this dated home has been given a modern reboot. The home was transformed within the existing footprint.

Old School Friends Unite to Design a Tranquil Home for a Busy Family

A renovation creates flexible but calm spaces for a blended family, visiting overseas relatives, and a professional home office.

Light-Filled and Unfussy Home to Relax in After a Busy Work Day

This renovation for a woman with a busy work life needed to be relaxing and low-maintenance - the perfect retreat after a long day.

A Little Bit of Zinc Hints At What's Happening Behind Red Brick House

Clad in zinc, this simple rear addition creates a light-filled, low-fuss extension for a young family to grow.

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