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Episode 5.3 West End Queenslander, Qld

This episode first aired on 30.7.23

Architect           original - Unknown , restoration - Phorm Architecture

Date                 1929

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Kathy and Angie were living next door and running out of space when this home came up for sale. They pounced and the 1929 classic queenslander that they’d been looking at for a long while, was finally theirs. Located in Brisbane’s West End, this suburban context is tightly packed with homes like this, built around the 1920’s.

“West End is part of the greater Kurilpa Peninsula, encompassing the suburbs of South Bank, South Brisbane, Highgate Hill, Hill End and West End. Kurilpa, meaning 'place of the water rat', was the name given to the peninsula by the traditional owners of the land, the Turrbal and Yuggera peoples.” (https://westvillagecommunity.com.au/history-of-west-end/)

The home itself is a great example of a modest Queenslander which as a type, is perhaps Australia’s prime example of an imported architectural heritage that has adapted over time to the climate. Deservedly cited for it’s sustainabile credentials, a recognizable trait is the elevation “on stilts” of the home off the ground principally to let air circulate around the building and even through gaps left in floor boards as a natural cooling technique. And its in this space that Kathy and Angie found the room to create a contemporary space, turning the typical garden storage shed undercroft, into an open platformed generous contemporary living area that flows into the garden.

What makes this strategy unique? Typically, renovations have the old on the street and the new addition out the back. In this case, the existing home is raised a meter, nudged sideways 2m’s and the new additions slid delicately underneath the old.

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