Corunna House
A Federation bungalow reinvented into a light-filled courtyard house with different zones for family living, all connected to landscape.
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“There is not just one magic moment in this house, but several, and they all relate to a connection with nature in some form. The internal courtyard is tiny, but it’s precious to the clients - they use it for pre-dinner drinks all the time. The other special moment is the skylight above the main ensuite shower that looks up into the giant fig trees. To be in such a suburban site and have these connections to nature is very special.”
—Stefanie Robinson, Studio Johnston Project Director -
The clients are a professional couple with three sons, the oldest entering university. Their brief was to turn the site into a longterm sustainable family home with different zones for parents and children. Core to the brief were generous spaces for entertaining, a very private master suite, a dedicated work-from-home study, and a wine cellar.
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With prior extensions and minor structures removed, a new addition is grafted at the rear, integrating a series of landscape pockets that extend the green space from the mature front garden through and around the new pavilion.
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The original front rooms are reworked into three bedrooms, a bathroom and informal Media room for the kids. The new two-story addition contains a generous open kitchen, dining and living space at ground level, and luxurious master suite above with bedroom, ensuite, study and a private landscaped roof terrace.
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Old and new sections hinge around the northerly staircase atrium and a south-facing internal glass-walled courtyard that brings natural light and air into the core of the house which then steps down to the new living space.
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The raw materiality of the new section – its concrete floor and ceiling downstairs, exposed timber rafters upstairs – is in deliberate contrast
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New finishes were chosen to harmonise with the heritage brickwork — brass, terrazzo, marble countertops and natural oak for inbuilt joinery.
- Architecture & Interiors Studio Johnston
- Builder SFN Build
- Landscape Tarn
- Structures SDA Structures
- Heritage John Oultram Heritage & Design
- Photography Anson Smart
- Stylist Kirsten Stanwix Bookallil