There's something at the bottom of this Brisbane garden that could be an answer to Australia's urban sprawl. Ready to take a look?
Searching for a sustainable alternative to the urban sprawl, REFRESH*DESIGN has developed a model of infill-development that sensitively increases density of urban areas, which is branded ‘my gardenhouse’. In fact, we took a look at another gardenhouse a while back.
This iteration of the gardenhouse is located in a Brisbane inner-city suburb, and is an example of how such a gardenhouse has transformed the often unutilised backyard into a multi-generational home to cater for different life stages.
Following the slope of the land, the sequence of indoor, outdoor and hybrid spaces offer either integration and connectivity, or separation and privacy, to allow for maximum flexibility.
The neighbourhood is characterised by traditional Queensland cottage-style houses. Overtime many of these houses have been renovated and extended. In consideration of the context, the design embraced traditional materials, including corrugated metal, weatherboards and timber elements, while simultaneously expressing a contemporary shape.
To achieve the brief within a small budget and maintain architectural integrity, strategic direction was used to build a cost-effective and innovative solution.
One strategy was the double use of spaces, which lead to combining the kitchen island bench with the dining table. The laundry is also incorporated within the powder room joinery. Another solution was to use burnished concrete to avoid costly tiling or polishing of the slab. Form-ply was also used to enable the design of custom joinery, while avoiding the usually costly finishing.
Like the Herston Gardenhouse we previously featured, Woolloongabba Gardenhouse is an efficient and architecturally delightful addition to an otherwise underutilised garden. If you have space at the bottom of your garden, why not consider turning into a home for someone else. It can help to release capital in your property or generate an additional income all while helping to reduce urban sprawl. And when a house at the bottom of the garden is this beautiful? The decision is that much easier...