+ Maxine's "Granny Flat" ₂₀₁₈

Room 1.06 - Team: Felix Joensson, Oliver Campbell

Budget: 150.000 AUD

Currently under construction

A small suburban infill project for a small and economical residence at the rear of an existing house. The brief stipulated an ancillary dwelling to accommodate the client’s son and his partner. As the son’s family grows out of the small dwelling, they plan to swap occupation, thus becoming a granny flat in the true sense of the word.

The house is situated in the garden suburb of Hilton, Western Australia, where the suburban housing stock consists of predominately fibre-cement workers’ cottages typical of the middle of the century. Strict building codes in the area, the wish of the owner to subdivide the block in the near future and the intent to preserve as much of the existing vegetation dictated the location of the dwelling along the northern boundary.

The plan is composed of three rooms that stagger from the street toward the large native garden at the back of the site. This provides a series of outdoor spaces, facing both north and south. The courtyard on the north provides a large light well and also offers privacy from the main existing dwelling as stipulated in the brief from the client Maxine. A small reading ‘nook’ at end of the plan provides a place to sit in the sun and observe the garden all year round, clad entirely in polycarbonate.

The construction follows the logic of a long timber ridge beam, spanning the length of the house, with rooms and outdoor spaces coming off this central spine. Rafters in outdoor areas are exposed and roofing on the courtyards and pergolas are sheeted in polycarbonate. Materials follow the local palette of galvanised corrugated sheeting, with fibre cement and timber.