Urban

With little going for it except its inner city location, this Victorian terrace needed some serious work. Architect David Boyle’s brilliant redesign creatively employed a number of tricks to solve some fundamental problems.

An old bungalow on a great plot in inner-city Auckland has been transformed by architects McCoy + Heine into an expansive home for two siblings and their young families.

Hidden from view in the heart of the city, a new home is encouraging us to rethink sustainable residential design, and to start right in our own back gardens.

With views towards the Melbourne city skyline, this new tri-level high spec family home is designed for 21st century living.

Take a heritage-listed house on a 330- square-metre inner city block and create two sustainable dwellings to house three generations of a family. It must be child-friendly, have enough space for a vegetable garden, off-street parking for one car and plenty of bicycles, and offer privacy for the occupants — from the outside world and each other.

When the owner of a weatherboard in Marrickville, Sydney, wanted to renovate she had to face a tough decision. The house was too frail to add onto, but the block was large, so she decided to team with architect David Boyle to build not just one but two houses.

Nestled in a quiet street in South Yarra, Melbourne, this distinctive house with its warehouse-like exterior recently won the 2013 BDAV Building Design of the Year award and collected an impressive total of eight awards across various categories.

This renovation of a classic Brisbane timber cottage was all about maximising, not necessarily increasing, space – and taking advantage of a precious side block.

A Melbourne renovation adds cosy, family friendly spaces and lots of visible skyline to a weatherboard terrace by using thoughtful glazing and varied volumes pulled together visually and thematically by a “datum line” roof.

This well-thought out addition to an old Melbourne weatherboard celebrates its two core materials while leaving space for unexpected moments of art and craft.