5 Renovation Designs to Inspire Your Australian Home Renovation

When the time comes to begin your own renovation, it can be overwhelming to filter through the thousands of home projects, choose what you like, decide what you don't, and create a clear plan moving forward. However, with so many talented designers and architects in Australia, we believe some of the best ideas are homegrown.

CO-architecture is proud to highlight some amazing, innovative Australian renovations, to inspire your upcoming project. From heritage-listed properties, extensions, and landscaping, these projects reinvigorate tired properties into warm, rich family homes. Hailing from all around the country, these exciting studios and practices are sure to inspire your next design project.

Elm Street House by Gardiner Architects

Gardiner Architects envisioned Elm Street as striking a balance between new and old; retaining the character and function of the existing home, whilst reconfiguring to facilitate modern family life. The existing Californian Bungalow was home to a family with three young children and the team reimagined their home to act as a tool to sustain and grow connectivity through interconnected space, particularly focusing on the kitchen. For the family, lots of their life centres around the kitchen, and so it was designed as a large, open area that connected to dining and living spaces as well as the backyard.

Throughout the renovation, there was a focus on dissolving the divides between inside and out, facilitated through the addition of multiple large openings to foster connection with the outdoors and define space. Downstairs, hidden courtyards and large openings maximise space, whilst upstairs decks and roof gardens help to bring the outside, in. Finally, careful attention was paid to integrating passive sustainable design to ensure comfortable use year-round without reliance on air-conditioning.

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Brooke by Ola Architecture Studio

The renovation of Brooke by Ola Architecture Studio centred around ensuring a seamless and continued architectural narrative between the home and its surrounding neighbourhood. The renovation and extension of this heritage-listed weatherboard house in Clifton Hill focused on respecting its connection with the area's history, harmonising with the neighbourhoods urban fabric whilst allowing for contemporary integrations. Ola Architecture Studio opted for a minimal material palette, featuring recycled brick and galvanised steel cladding that not only enhanced the homes exterior aesthetic and sustainability, but coalesced with the locality's character.

Structurally, the renovation required the removal of the existing timber floor and structure, which was replaced with a concrete slab, though an involved process that required the home to be lifted and supported on metal pins whilst a new slab was poured. The new insulated slab, which includes hydronic heating throughout, enhances the homes energy efficiency and ensures long-term durability. The extension was also designed to merge with the existing roof structure, to maintain architectural coherence and continuity. The blending of restrained elements with traditional materials fosters a dialogue between old and new, strengthening the architectural narrative of the surrounding area.

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Richmond Heritage Extension by Archive

In the historic heart of Richmond, Victoria, Archive oversaw the contemporary rear addition to a heritage-listed residence, home to a young family. Richmond Heritage Extension strikes a balance between preservation and progress. A project where a modernistic extension fuses gracefully with the original street-facing façade, honouring the homes historic presence whilst re-establishing the structure as a contemporary family home. Navigating the complexities of a tight urban block, privacy, useable space, the constraints of a heritage overlay and the struggle to maximise light, Archive adopted a considered spatial sequence that unfolds from the restored front rooms thought to a new, open-plan living space. Here, the space expands further to strengthen connection with the outdoors through a central courtyard. Every aspect of the home is designed with functionality in mind, as well as its existing relationship to the surrounding neighbourhood’s character.

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The Alma by &Dalecki

The Alma by &Dalecki sees the intensive rework of a 1940's duplex in North Perth, WA, into a refined, dynamic retreat. The home's design celebrates the clients shared love of art, architecture and design, serving as not only a place to display their extensive collection, but as a piece of bold design in itself. Although the home was originally listed as a three-bedroom, two-bathroom home, its dysfunctional layout limited the quality of space and layout. &Dalecki opted to reduce the home to a two-bedroom to maximise the expanse of shared living spaces. The home's layout is inspired by the surrounding neighbourhood, home to many lively cafes and bars, by creating a captivating journey through distinct atmospheres; light and dark, spirited and secluded.

The heart of the home, the kitchen, offers a dramatic inversion of space where a curved, double-height opening bathes the interior in natural light. Expansive windows offer direct views to the garden, neighbouring trees and the sky, magnifying the homes sense of scale and fostering its connection with the outdoors. The division between inside and out is further blurred through the addition of a large outdoor living area, which connects the home to the local community. Material choices honour the homes origins and surrounds, with a focus on rich textural elements such as red brick, charcoal mortar and blackened timber.

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Randwick by Matt Day Architect

Randwick by Matt Day Architect is a renovation inspired by the traditional childlike notion of a gable roofed house. Translating this stereotypical idea through purity of form and order of structure was the driving force behind the renovation, which oversaw an existing semi-detached house transformed into a modern, functional home for a young, professional couple. The homeowners required new living spaces, a first floor addition to the rear of the home and to make the most of the rear, which was closed off from the rest of the home.

Outside, landscaping was conceived to roll seamlessly into internal spaces, connecting the two areas both spatially and visually. The north facing aspect of the rear of the home provided abundant opportunity to maximise passive solar heating. Operable timber screening and a first-floor overhang was also added during the renovation to provide temperature control year-round. Other sustainability integrations include low-e glazing for windows and doors, high-level insulation, concrete floors for added thermal mass, native landscaping and energy efficient lighting, taps and appliances.

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