Bondi Hill House began with a single photograph: the clients’ family in the Australian outback, framed by bleached greens and iron rich reds. That image became a quiet brief for the entire renovation, an insistence on colour, texture and a house that felt like a home. Inside, the palette and finishes were chosen to echo the landscape that matters to them most.
Because the family spends as much time outside as they can, the rear living areas were designed to dissolve into the garden. Expansive sliding doors pull back on two sides, turning the main space into a covered edge between indoors and out, and making the backyard feel like part of everyday life rather than something viewed through glass.
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In contrast, the external envelope is deliberately restrained with durable fibre cement cladding and traditional corrugated metal in neutral tones, allowing the house to sit comfortably behind the screen of trees and letting the greenery do the work at the street.
The planning of the home is equally considered. Future proofing isn’t only about adding space, it’s about giving a family the ability to be together and apart in the same day. A clear separation between the parents’ retreat and the children’s ground floor rooms and living area creates autonomy as the children grow, spaces for friends, noise and independence, while maintaining generous shared zones for meals, weekends and the rhythms that hold a household together.
To keep momentum from design into construction, the project was delivered as complying development, or CDC. That pathway shortened the overall program significantly and helped the clients move in sooner. It also allowed decisions that emerged during the build to be resolved efficiently, keeping the site moving and avoiding the interruption of returning to Council for changes that could be handled within the approval framework.
Finally, the success of a first floor addition to a Californian bungalow is often measured from the footpath. The new level at Bondi Hill House is pulled back at the front and side so the original form remains legible. From the street, the addition reads as recessive and composed, present, but not dominant, adding a contemporary layer to the bungalow without overpowering it.