A generational homecoming - literally.
After a number of years living on the Australian mainland, our Tasmania-born client was ready to return with her family to the quieter island of her younger days. In Launceston, the old childhood homestead was still happily occupied by her parents, but a patch of dirt out back invited new attention.
Our design incorporated a new family home onto the existing block, capitalising on the site’s generosity of space, view and light, and respecting its place in one of northern Tasmania’s most established heritage value suburbs.
Grounded in space.
In the context of its period home neighbours, it was critically important that this contemporary residence be respectful of the surrounding heritage character. Our design placed the addition quietly and unassumingly within the relatively narrow subdivision of the childhood family home, against the backdrop of established neighbouring gardens.
By pushing the building form to the southern side of the block, the home enjoys sun access all the way along its long northern side, beginning as a low single-level garage, before splitting at the entry into private bedroom spaces above, and following a gradient down to the family-friendly kitchen, dining and living spaces.
A house that knew how to listen.
From the very first conversations, the brief was less about how the house should look and more about how it should feel - a question we love being asked, because it pushes the design process beyond style and into something more enduring.
“From the outset, we said that we didn’t know what we wanted the building to look like, but we knew what we wanted it to ‘feel’ like. Cumulus developed the brief by seeking to understand how we wanted to live in the space, focusing on questions about our daily routines, moments in the day that we enjoy, and what we value in a home. The result is a house that creates a lot of moments that spark joy. Whether from a vista out to the garden from a well-placed chair, flowing through the space in the course of daily life, or even doing the washing in efficient spaces where everything is where you need it to be. It has a calming and restorative effect on our family, and we’re finding more time to be still and appreciate our environment.”
Our approach also incorporated an interruption to the otherwise long and narrow plan, pushing the living and dining wing out at the lower level and creating a multi-use guest and rumpus area above - small spatial moves that quietly shape the everyday rhythms Melanie describes.
