Fryar by DAH Architecture

Responding to the site’s sloping typography, DAH Architecture designed Fryar, which is both a private haven and an open contemporary home embedded in its surrounds.

In the extensive renovation and expansion of the existing pre-war home in Camp Hill, DAH Architecture ensured Fryar retained connections to its traditional Queenslander vernacular while being reshaped for contemporary living. By opening up the existing spaces and sunrooms, the residence engages more meaningfully with the surrounding landscape. “The plan integrates landscaping to create a seamless connection to the yard and responds to a young active household with open plan living spaces,” describes David Hansworth, director at DAH Architecture.

In the extensive renovation and expansion of the existing pre-war home in Camp Hill, DAH Architecture ensured Fryar retained connections to its traditional Queenslander vernacular while being reshaped for contemporary living.

The approach taken by DAH Architecture aims to balance old and new while engaging sustainability efforts. “The planning of the home maximises light and ventilation, ultimately providing a passively cooled home and increasing the time it could rely on its environment for comfort,” describes Hansworth. Operable elements allow for moments of privacy and separation. By encouraging an interplay of light within, the selected materials appear animated, changing the feel of the home over the day as a result.

By extending the timber weatherboard cladding around the new elements, the existing narrative continues. “The simplicity of the palette serves as a backdrop to the other architectural features such as the elliptical stairs, large voids and vaulted ceiling,” says Hansworth. The blurring between inside and out and the flow between interior zones was important to embracing the outdoor lifestyle that is synonymous with Queensland. “In lieu of a traditional deck, landscaped concrete planters and a cobblestone apron blend the division between outdoors and inside, providing a layer of protection to the ground floor openings and softening the transition from inside to out.”

The approach taken by DAH Architecture aims to balance old and new while engaging sustainability efforts.

With a calm simplicity within, Fryar celebrates the intersections between nature and architecture. DAH Architecture ensures the addition feels like a natural evolution of the existing home, preserving the structure’s heritage past while looking to the future.

Architecture and interior design by DAH Architecture. Build by MKW Construction. Engineering by Macstructure.