Transforming your Residence to create Executive Luxury Living
VHD Studio have a love for combining old with new. We live in a town filled with beautiful classic dwellings which are wonderful examples of their time. However, they no longer meet the communities’ expectations when it comes to standard of living and modern spatial dynamics. PROJECT DS22 seeks to playfully balance this contrast, whilst also creating a space the meet the needs of the modern family.
The client wanted to transform a modest East Toowoomba cottage into an executive residence – retaining the traditional facade whilst undertaking an internal renovation and adding a 2 storey addition to the rear. The dwelling needed to be sold at the top end of the market so it needed to reflect the requirements of luxury living. The brief included indoor / outdoor living areas, oriented east with an upper floor Master Bedroom suite and luxury light filled spaces. Being a builder, the client was keen to use light weight framing and cladding to utilise available skill sets.
The project deploys the use of a breezeway to create 2 x dwelling pods as an innovative method of allowing northern light to access the rear living spaces – whilst being light filled in its own right, the breezeway allows the rear dwelling addition to have a northern facade of its own which creates opportunities for light to enter via NE glazing and subsequent open stair. The rear addition itself is constructed on slab to ensure that the height of the 2 storey element remains below the height limitations of the planning scheme.
The original dwelling features private spaces with a primary central circulation axis passing through it, punctured by a small living room which drags visitors through to the public living spaces at the rear. Access to the main rear living areas is via the breezeway and stairs – there is a small flight to the lower floor and a main flight to the upper floor. The lower floor includes the primary living spaces and service areas along with the outdoor living / pool zones – whilst the upper floor features the Master suite and additional bedroom.
The standout feature of the project is without a doubt the intricate eastern facade. This element delicately balances indoor and out, punctuated by glazing accessing the internal 2 storey void. The internal stairs are in the rear additions NE corner and features corner glazing and a cantilevered landing with glazing below. Custom fixed vertical screens are used to funnel NE light whilst preventing direct visual access from the eastern neighbour. The southern end of this facade continues into a light filled scaled outdoor living space and pool.
The existing dwelling has been brought back to its peak with careful rehabilitation and a strong monochromatic colour scheme – the southern addition reflects the original in its external materials with the use of linear weatherboard whilst also championing stria and oblique cladding. External fenestrations, overhangs and cantilevers result in strong elements of light and void. The use of the breezeway as a narrow connection ensures that the mass of the original dwelling is reinforced. The rear additions snaking roof line implies the spatial uses within whilst underlining the shape of the existing dwelling. The addition of feature timber is a final touch.
If you have a home located within the Toowoomba or Brisbane region, that you are wanting to transform into an executive residence, then reach out to our award-winning design team.
Our Brisbane office is located at 1/630 Coronation Drive, Toowong, Queensland.
Our Toowoomba office is located at 1/12 Neil Street, Toowoomba, Queensland.