2022 Houses Awards: House Alteration and Addition under 200m²

Jury comment

As its name suggests, Cascade House steps effortlessly down its sloping terrain, traversing a significant four-metre level change across the site. The visually recessive addition is cleverly grafted to the side of a characterful weatherboard cottage to better connect its occupants with ground and garden.

This topographic approach challenges the convention of elevating the Queenslander to accommodate additional program underneath, instead locating new living and social spaces to the side and a few metres below the existing house. The rooms of the timber cottage are appropriately repurposed for sleeping and bathing spaces.

In the addition, split levels are leveraged to define functions while keeping spaces open and connected to one another. These social rooms are generously open to the street, yet the strategic placement of program, walls and lush vegetation ensures occupants experience seclusion and comfort. An inviting new entry sequence from the street and off-street parking area deftly caters for domestic needs, providing the homeowners with practical bike and pram storage at street level before they step up into the elevated home.

Cascade House is a remarkable alteration and addition delivered on a modest budget. It exemplifies how harnessing the constraints of the site can lead to utterly delightful outcomes for family life.

The Award for House Alteration and Addition under 200m² is supported by James Hardie. See full image galleries of all the winning and shortlisted projects here.

For more coverage, read the project review by Kirsty Volz.

Cascade House is built on the land of the Turrbal and Yuggera people.

Project credits

Architect: John Ellway Project team: John Ellway, Hannah Waring Builder: Mark Newman Engineer: Chad Ings Landscape designer: Tom Collins Interiors and stylist: Jacqueline Kaytar Planner: Ben Lewis