Renovations

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

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

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

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

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

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

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?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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...

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

At this highly visible corner block, the architects have designed a black extension to contrast with the white Edwardian original.

A strikingly contemporary 'black-box' modular addition has popped up in this neighbourhood, adding to the eclectic mix of housing.

Never underestimate the power of a well-designed outdoor living area to transform your home. This clever verandah is a great example.

When you need to fit a lot onto a small block, forget market expectations and look for light and functionality to suit your family.

After a series of ad-hoc alterations, this long-time family home was in need of a major overhaul - it was raised, built-in and under.

Within this alteration and addition a ribbon of cabinetry touches every room and brings functionality and cohesion to old and new.

New pitched roofs continue the style of the original home, but are reinterpreted based on the function of the rooms and need for light.

A deceptively simple and elegant addition which could be considered a prototype for sustainable, affordable homes.

A new-found connection to the yard and pool, wine storage that's decorative yet practical and integrated seating throughout...

If you love '60s style, decor and art, you'll have to take a look at this swinging transformation on the Gold Coast.

Even after a reduction in total size, this renovation works better than the previous cluster of poorly considered renovations.

This considered addition capitalises on good qualities of the home and fixes the less than ideal. What can be saved in your addition?

A small addition and internal reconfiguration of a '60s home designed by a renowned New Zealand architect makes it fit for a family.

Rather than bifold doors, the rear of this house has a window seat with opening bifold windows to create an indoor/outdoor space.

Old and new are connected by a black tunnel with no end immediately in sight. But there is a light-filled end to this tunnel.

It takes a lot of 'stuff' to run a family. Just because you're interested in sustainability doesn't mean you need to go without...

At just 36 square metres, this compact yet thoughtful addition creates space for cooking, eating, writing, sitting and more...

This compact inner-city townhouse has been transformed from an unremarkable '70s era building into a timeless, light-filled home.

An eco-friendly, 7 star energy rated addition to an inner-city terrace feels bright, breezy and, importantly, comfortable year-round.

Orientation is the best way to make your home feel light and bright. So what can you do when your home faces the wrong way?

A rear extension takes advantage of a North-facing backyard to connect to the garden and generate electricity for the whole house.

An elegant and restrained timber addition provides the perfect modern living space for a family of five (plus two energetic dogs).

Both architecture and furniture, the joinery unit designed to fit in the middle of this studio apartment allows for numerous functions.

You can tell something's different about this heritage home from the moment you see the lime green door and pastel green walls...

Renovating an apartment is a challenge because you're confined to the existing envelope. What if it's also a heritage building?

An alteration and addition to the home this couple have lived in for three decades blends in with the surrounding sheds and garages...

Meaning 'shield' in Old French, Escu House creates an expanded North facing living area protected by floor to ceiling timber screen.

Rising costs and melting ice caps. Why not use your renovation as an opportunity to improve your home's environmental credentials as well.

The journey through this home is one of contrasting light, colour and materials, making this narrow extension feel bright, warm and rich.

"Our clients now enjoy a home flexible enough to allow for their family to grow, without creating excessive rooms."

An extensive renovation of a Melbourne home gives the owners all the benefits of inner-city terrace living without the drawbacks.

We're familiar with rear additions but at Inbetween House a clever front addition reorients and reconnects the house and garden.

Dealing with poor orientation this North-facing cloistered space acts as circulation and additional indoor/outdoor living space.

Older homes typically face two problems: lack of natural light and poor planning. A glazed atrium dining room solves both issues here.

In contrast the cellular plan of the existing Federation-era home, this light extension is open-plan where spaces overlap and interact.

A small extension combined with 'reprogramming' the original layout means more natural light and a better connection to the outdoors.

If you're an introvert you'll know that the world we live in can be overwhelming at times. Sometimes you need somewhere to hideout...

This robust home for a family of six will be knocked about by the young family and accumulate character through the passage of time.

A 1970s-era weatherboard holiday house gets a serious revamp to make it perfect for Grandparents' retired living.

By building an extension at the end of a narrow site, Austin Maynard Architects created a courtyard instead of a typical light-well.

Parts of the original house are left intact to create sheltered outdoor areas in this renovation, grounding the home to its history.

Renovating a heritage house is a challenge at the best of times. But when the only option is going up, the challenge is all the greater.

A stainless steel net for growing deciduous vines wraps this narrow home, transforming it into a nest for vertical family living.

Reclaimed bricks are used in various ways to bring a sense of history and weight to this inner-city extension.

This renovation shines with a light well bringing light deep into the house, bright red accents and pops of personality throughout...

The entire ground floor of this house has become one continuous indoor/outdoor space thanks to a well conceived alteration and addition.

A lot of mistakes were made in the '80s, Nic Owen Architects attempts to rectify one of them with a modern pod-like extension.

A dark semi-detached D House is now a bright and lively space with a wall of glass that opens to dissolve the end wall into the garden.

Unashamedly modern ‘podium’ anchors existing home to the landscape, connecting the cottage to the garden, and the interiors to the sky.

A series of courtyards weave this modern extension into the original home. A sensitive departure from the typical add-on.

This extension continues a tradition of relaxed, colourful and small-scaled modifications which have been occurring for generations.

Each room of this addition steps down with the contours of the site, while the plan zigzags to access light and connect to the garden.

This converted warehouse in Fitzroy involved refitting of a beautiful old warehouse to become a flexible home for an extended family.