Navigating Contours – Gully House by nicholas harvey architect.

Set in Brisbane’s leafy western suburb of Bardon, Gully House by nicholas harvey architect. navigates a narrow hillside to access a verdant backyard gully below. The extension was conceived across multiple levels and celebrates both location and family.

Bardon – whilst only a short drive from the bustle of the inner city – is a quiet suburb set against the foothills of Mount Coot-Tha. Its landscape undulates, fostering green streets and a community heightened by quaint village experiences. In abundance, Bardon sports the quintessential Queensland architecture the state is recognised for; however, the original Gully House is somewhat of an anomaly for the area. As an evolution of the traditional worker’s cottage – compact in scale and composed of timber and tin, much like the Queenslander – Gully House references and honours its historical context by retaining the original 1960s bungalow whilst the work to the rear of the home was completed.

The levels and their multiple spaces – the lounge, kitchen, dining and patio – are connected by sightlines, close enough to share conversations across rooms, yet with enough degrees of separation to feel the distinct character of each.

Gully House is accessed on grade from the street set on one of Bardon’s many ridge lines. Upon entering the home through its retained bungalow, visitors are met by a long sightline and visual cue of the landscape to come. The hallway opens to a platform where the home’s multi-level embedment into the sloped site becomes evident. From the top of the staircase, a custom pendant from Objects for Thought hangs in the void, in contrast to the warm hues of timber finishes and the Caledonian leather of a sunken lounge designed by CJ Anderson.

The overall interior palette is naturally paired with domestic elements. The concrete blocks and tonal variation of the Italian porphyry floor on the lower level provide an effortless midcentury reference to both the era, the original home and the client’s antique Malm fireplace – refurbished and reincorporated into the new sunken lounge area.

As a literal interpretation of the topography and its contour lines, the extension is conceived as a series of small pools that eddy from the flow of family life into the site.

The levels and their multiple spaces – the lounge, kitchen, dining and patio – are connected by sightlines, close enough to share conversations across rooms, yet with enough degrees of separation to feel the distinct character of each. The configuration also allows the surrounding green space to become a focal point. Whilst the scale of the new work is kept intentionally humble, the key apertures emphasise aspect and immediate access to the shaded landscape a few steps away and beyond.

Gully House navigates the terrain towards the yard, falling away to established yet distant vegetation. As a literal interpretation of the topography and its contour lines, the extension is conceived as a series of small pools that eddy from the flow of family life into the site. nicholas harvey architect.’s approach sees a light-filled home balanced by shared internal and external environments, ideally adaptable in engaging or disengaging from the seasonal difference in the Queensland climate.