Home in the Garden – Annerley House by Zuzana & Nicholas

Preserving an important part of the architectural lineage of northern Australia, Annerley House sees the reworking of an existing Queenslander-style home, with an emphasis on maintaining its slightness of form and materiality. Zuzana & Nicholas focuses on gestures of openness and connection in the renovation and extension of an existing cottage, firmly integrating the built within the natural.

Set in the same-named area in Brisbane, Annerley House combines a transformative renovation and extension to an existing Queenslander cottage, with the aim to connect beyond the bounding walls of the home. Much akin to homes of similar ilk and era, where the focus was on creating a lightweight and breathable home that responded to the warmer and humid climate of the area, the formal internal spatial arrangement is both limiting and creates segregation. The new works see a more connected and free-flowing approach to how the home functions as an extension of the contemporary lived condition, and the inherited home needed to evolve accordingly. In an effort to maintain the home’s character and to have minimal impact, Zuzana & Nicholas draws on the original celebrated features in refining the new through a restrained approach.

 In an effort to maintain the home’s character and to have minimal impact, Zuzana & Nicholas draws on the original celebrated features in refining the new through a restrained approach.

In an area where such an emphasis is placed on an indoor-outdoor lifestyle, it seems fitting the resulting architecture should respond and support the everyday, accordingly. Built by Contrast Constructions, together with landscape design by Jonathan Kopinski, at the heart of the new works is the dissolving of the threshold leading to the curated garden spaces. Both through ventilation and visual connections, the home openly embraces its surrounds, allowing for social and play to spill out. Although the majority of the new sits within the existing, the proposed expansion allows for the creation of an outdoor room, which when closed adds additional volume and is conceived through a modest lens to suits the original proportions of the house.

Home to a young family, the outdoor garden space and its accessibility was vital, and the new operable family areas with integrated bay windows further add an element of playfulness. The efforts to contain the new works both in size and limited waste deliberately connect to a sustainable and environmentally conscious core. Taking form inspired by the familiar lean-to type structure, the addition is wrapped in light-weight materiality to match the spirit of the original cottage – instead of using timber boards, corrugated Zincalume encases the home. A palette of robust and time-wearing elements allows the family functions of the home to transpire, while still infusing a contemporary sensibility

Both through ventilation and visual connections, the home openly embraces its surrounds, allowing for social and play to spill out.

Through a holistic approach, Zuzana & Nicholas’s Annerley House advances a more connected and breathable series of spaces, embodying its purpose as a place of both retreat and connection.