Indooroopilly Home Renovation
Our clients
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Best Houses Australia
The result has been stunning with the clients delighted with the transformation. Greater internal living space now feels connected with the exterior areas of the property. Raising the original home allowed for expansion without losing precious outdoor space.
About the project
Project summary
This 1960’s home was certainly nothing to write home about in terms of its appearance. Whilst the property had solid ‘bones’ the exterior of the home was bland at best. Inside it lacked space and organisation resulting in a home that was low in terms of comfort and liveability.
For this Indooroopilly home renovation, the owners were seeking a modern and contemporary renovation to transform their 1960s Post-War home completely. Increasing the overall living space and improving the connectivity with the outdoors was a crucial component of the design brief. This home provides functional, sophisticated and sustainable architectural solutions, bridging contemporary Australian design with Japanese inspiration.
Client Satisfaction Rating
The Brief
The owners – fans of Japanese architecture – sought to transform the home with a contemporary renovation that would result in a modern Australian design with a Japanese flavour.
More space was also high on the list of must-haves with everything having its place to reduce clutter and improve flow throughout the home.
Recycling the old
Indooroopilly Home Renovation
Situated on a sloping block, the existing post-war home’s timber frame was salvaged, forming a structural and integral component of the renovated home. Lifting the old house allowed for a modern building to inject sophistication and prestige into the site. This meant the home’s overall size could be increased without using up valuable real estate at the rear of the property.
Project Number: 080503
This Indooroopilly home renovation won the 2016 ArChdes Residential Architecture Award.
In a sea of project homes surrounding the local golf course, a contemporary, streamlined roof breathes new life into the area with its newly created entertainment area design.
Originally from Western Australia, our clients moved to North Lakes and set down their roots in a local community with the most up to date facilities. They had made new friends and planned on staying long-term in their home, but desired a resort-style ambience that could turn their project home into an oasis for their family and their friends.
Design solutions
Indooroopilly Home Renovation
This post-war home is now modern and elegant. Open spaces are inviting and fit perfectly with our client’s needs.
Flexible design solutions
Throughout the design phase, our goal was to create a flexible area that could be closed up and used as individual spaces in cooler months, with the option of opening the entire space up to the backyard during the warmer months. A flexible design was achieved through the use of a series of sliding doors that allow a variety of options depending on the weather and intended use of the space.
By using a combination of external shutters, Venetian blinds and overhangs the interior is perfectly shaded in summer while still making the most of the cooling summer breezes. The external shutters can easily control the amount of light entering the home while louvred windows allow the flow of air to be regulated so that artificial heating or cooling is seldom needed.
Interiors
A refined interiors palette with earth tones and Japanese inspired timber detailing provides warmth and interest throughout the home. New England Blackbutt timber flooring was used throughout the renovation. A combination of materials from stone and steel through to timber anchors the home, providing a harmonious and balanced feel.
Custom joinery and detailing throughout met the design brief as our clients were looking for bookcases, libraries, gallery display cases and shelving to house collections and books.
Exteriors
Interactive zones
The new dining and kitchen areas were designed to connect with one another at times or have the ability to be closed off and isolated as required through the use of sliding shutters. Both the kitchen and dining space connect to a new indoor-outdoor deck. The deck featured insect-proof screening to allow year-round enjoyment. It also connected with the partially levelled backyard.
A new family room with views over backyard attached to the kitchen/dining/deck zone. This family room with built-in cabinetry incorporated an expansive ceiling, providing a unique sense of space. An additional study or guest bedroom was also designed and located close to the new kitchen; this room incorporates a double sized guest bed, filing cabinet, desk and shelving.
A generous service area and additional guest bedroom, incorporating a study, extended down the western boundary. Acoustic rated sliding windows provided the opportunity for the guest bedroom to connect to the central living zone allowing this space to be open when needed or concealed on other occasions. The lower ground level contains another library, cellar, study and entertainment room.
The multiple areas of this Indooroopilly home renovation reflect the lifestyle requirements of this retired couple who enjoyed having family come and stay. The flexible design allows this home to open up for use by multiple generations but maintains a comfortable space for the two primary homeowners.
Recycling the old home
From the street, steel beams accentuate the entry colonnade and front stair, welcoming you into the home. Landscaping with rendered masonry walls enhanced the space and a level of privacy from the street was maintained. The old carport has been transformed into a modern garage, connecting to the home by a covered walkway.
The new front entry, located in the centre of the home, connects with a gallery hallway, extending like a spine throughout the length of the home. An office was created beside the entry incorporating a library and providing a home for our client’s favourite freestanding desk. An internal staircase of solid timber Brush Box joins with the hall providing vertical ascent and descent to the respective living zones.
The master bedroom’s location was maintained and further enhanced on the ground level. The renovated master suite provides ample custom storage and a secluded resort-style feel with the shutters improving solar and natural breeze access from the north-east via an existing two-storey void.
The previous ground level, which had been the central part of the house, became the first floor. This area includes bedrooms, a master bathroom and a living zone. An Australian outback feel was called upon to blend with a subtle Asian flavour. The two styles come together beautifully with a combination of veneer panelling, timber battening and large semi-opaque sliding doors.
Client Testimonial
Since our renovation with Dion Seminara architecture, we have seen several cycles of all of the seasons and our appreciation of the house continues to grow. We needed and now benefit from your architectural design skills and aesthetic sense of shape, form, volume, function, finish, colour and climate sensitivity for each area and for the house as a whole.
Your staged design process and staged approach to project development helped us define the scope and cost of what we would do. We could ensure that aspirations and expected costs were controlled and understood. The builders’ quotations were based on very detailed drawings and documents and were within our expectations. The collaboration between Architect and Builder turned the design into the remarkable reality of our ‘new’ house in which we are delighted to live and which visitors and passers-by admire.
The starting point was a small but solid post-war timber home. The outcome includes attractive and liveable solutions in every new room and in the house overall, internally and externally. It was much more than a renovation and we were pleased with the way the old house was elevated, recycled and integrated into the revamped dwelling. The living spaces relate to each other and work very well. The breezes are caught, air conditioning is rarely required in summer and living spaces are easily closed off when minimal heating is necessary in winter.
Thank you Dion — your architectural skills and design process produced great answers for us.
