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Location: Samford, QLD 

Awards

  • AIA Queensland Architecture Awards - State Shortlist for Residential Architecture                                                                     

This renovation and extension converts a basic low set brick veneer house with poor amenity to a home that engages with the semi-rural landscape and creates a strong presence through a singular external treatment that ties the new and old parts of the house together. The ‘public’ spaces of the brief (kitchen, living, dining and outdoor living) were accommodated in a ‘L’ shaped extension that structures the existing amorphous yard into a rear garden court, a strong entry axis, and an external roofed living space overlooking a pool.  

Existing trees and established vines were integrated to reinforce the entry experience and give the new works a sense of place. The materiality of the existing house informed that of the extension with the use of brick (bagged in lieu of rendered) and fibre cement weather boards which in turn were reinterpreted into a screening device that addresses privacy, sun, framing of views, and the shifting of the scale and language of the existing dumb building. These ‘birdhide’ screens peel open to provide discrete outlook typically to adjacent gardens – intimate views in juxtaposition to the dominant ‘big’ landscape that the house is immersed in. The interior of the extension is primarily simple white volumes with dramatic clerestory windows that bring in high level light and winter sun deep into the plan.

Photography: Scott Burrows

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Samford C House
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Professionals used in
Samford C House

About the
Professional

Bligh Graham Architects is a small studio based architecture practice in Samford Village, Australia. The studio’s reputation for developing sustainable, functional and responsive sub-tropical architecture has been acknowledged through many industry awards and a multitude of publications.

Established in 2002, Bligh Graham Architects is situated on the outskirts of Brisbane City primarily undertaking work throughout Brisbane, Moreton, Sunshine Coast, and Northern Rivers region. The majority of the work completed by the firm is residential in nature with aged care, cultural, interior and commercial projects also commissioned. Budgets have ranged from $100k to $20m. The practice only takes on a limited number of projects at a time to ensure a high level of service and professional delivery. 

Bligh Graham Architects believes that beyond fulfilling their function, buildings should enrich peoples everyday life, promote a sense of wellbeing and engage with our culture and landscape. Such architecture is not only functional but has a timeless warmth and richness, simplicity and humility. It is a tailored response to each client and site, resulting in highly resolved works that both engage the senses and provide efficient solutions. It is as much about the making of landscapes and gardens as it is about enclosures – of private and public worlds. 

Sustainability is a core concern that we address at all scales and phases from the initial site planning to the consideration of material selections and additional mechanical services. From the start we look to the holistic integration of passive design principles into the spatial and material logic of our designs.