Urban

An old 70-square-metre unit is transformed into a home that packs a whole lot of living into its sliver of suburbia.

The devil is in the detail of this deceptively simple Federation cottage in the inner-west of Sydney that effortlessly combines the old with the new.

When architect Alex Lake of Therefore Studio took on his first residential project, the brief was to not only transform a dilapidated Californian bungalow by the Elwood canal, but the bog-standard plans that came with it.

With a small footprint and height restrictions, the design for this infill home is a masterclass in space efficiency and climate control.

This extension in Brisbane is remarkably strong – both in the clarity of its design and in the impact of its dominant material, engineered particleboard SIPs.

For years Ben Raphael dreamed of turning his great-grandparents’ North Fitzroy shed into a tiny, truly distinctive home. Architect David Luck delivered in spades with a grassy, sloping façade that has sure got the neighbours talking.

Blessed with a site offering full ocean views, this new beach house nevertheless had to resolve the inherent conflict of facing south. It sounds violent but Farnan Findley Architects' solution involved "throttling" the design.

Andrew Maynard’s compact home for a Northcote family determined not to add another monolith to the neighbourhood feels expansive thanks to transparent materials, concealed rooms, garden connections and some particularly clever privacy screening.

Part landscape part architecture, a Brisbane undercroft is stunningly reinvented.

This simple, elegant home in the suburbs of Hobart is the result of a leisurely collaboration between its owner, a retiree, and an architect at the beginning of his career.