Queenslander House Creates Ground Connection

Designed by: Bones Studio and Room by Room.

Location: Northgate, Queensland, Australia | Latitude: 27.38968˚ S

A traditional Queenslander house is not known for having strong ground-floor connections to the outdoors. However, the renovation of this Queenslander house shows us a great way to create a relationship with a garden.

The Ridge House is in Northgate, Queensland, Australia.

House Location and Climate

At 27 degrees latitude, Northgate is south of the Tropic of Capricorn. Hence it falls in the subtropical region.

However, it has a hot, humid climate for most of the year. For a few months, it experiences cool winter temperatures.

This type of climate makes being outdoors a joy for most of the year.

House Design Brief

This Queenslander house was a tiring rental property. However, the homeowners wanted to turn it into a modern home in its subtropical region.

The 352m2 home was completed in 2020.

They intend to raise their young family there.

Photo: Cathy Schusler

In addition, they intended to spend more time outside in the surrounding garden.

Therefore, they wanted to find a way to connect the home to the ground and landscape.

House Design Approach

Since the homeowner wants to spend more time outside, the connection between the interior and exterior needs to be strong.

However, like typical Queenslanders, the existing house did not transition well to the outer ground plane. Therefore, the home renovation would need to consider this.

The homeowners wanted the house to connect with the terrain outside. Their reason for this is to connect more with the landscape. Hence, they could spend more time outdoors.

House Design Layout

The house has two separate main zones.

On the ground floor, the private spaces are at the front. This area has a bedroom, parking and utility spaces. It is also the quiet zone of the floor.

To the rear of the ground floor is the noisy zone. It has a large open-plan lounge, dining and kitchen space.

In addition, these public spaces open out to the backyard and pool in the northern part of the lot.

“…while at the rear, large open plan living areas open out to the north orientated backyard and pool, achieving the owners’ aspiration of a strong indoor-outdoor connection.”
– Bones Studio

Four bedrooms are on the upper floor, including a master bedroom. There is also a sitting area to the north.

Queenslanders’ Response To Tropical Climate

Queenslander houses were a popular traditional home in northern Australia’s tropical and subtropical regions.

The vernacular of these houses is distinctive to the region. However, they have some characteristics of tropical vernacular homes in other countries.

These include:

Wide, wrap-around verandas that provide shade and shelter from the sun and rain.
Verandas also help encourage more natural breezes to enter the home.
Lightweight, non-thermal massing wall and roof materials such as wood and corrugated metal.
Extensive window and door openings promote natural ventilation to flow through the house.
Elevated on stilts to avoid flooding and maintain cooler floors.

Queenslander Houses’ Lack of Connection to Outdoors

Queenslanders are typically single-storey homes. However, these houses usually do not directly connect with the grade outside. That is because they tend to be on stilts.

Hence, they suspend above the ground.

This design feature was a direct response to the climate and environment of tropical and subtropical regions.

Breezes flowing under a floating floor make it cooler than those on the ground.

Furthermore, the interior would be safe from flooding and pests.

In addition, elevating the floor above the terrain means you can build without disturbing the natural site with extensive excavation work.

However, these features reduce the connection between the inside and the garden outside.

Adding Ground Floor Connection to Queenslander House

The property has a large backyard to the north. The only connection to this yard was from an uncovered deck that was not part of the original Queenslander house.

In addition, the deck is scorching during the summer. Hence, it is not usable during that season.

Bones Studio made significant changes to incorporate a ground floor level.

“Our proposal included raising and shifting the existing house to allow for an additional level on the ground floor.”
– Bones Studio

The site’s natural terrain falls from the front to the back of the lot. The architect uses the site conditions as part of the overall design.

A split-level design has the ground floor level following the site’s natural contours. This arrangement meant they could maintain the traditional character and proportions of the street elevation.

Photo: Cathy Schusler

However, the back of the house has a dramatic double height. This space directly interacts with the garden creating a connection from indoors.

Utilising the natural slope also meant the project could avoid expensive and excessive earthworks and retaining walls.

Renovating a Queenslander Home

Renovating an old, traditional building with historical value can be tricky.

Queenslander houses have distinctive characteristics that make them identifiable. The challenge comes when deciding whether to imitate or contrast those characteristics.

Bones Studio decided to contrast the new with the old.

“A clear distinction between old and new has been consciously made with regard to materiality and scale of spaces.”
– Bones Studio

The restoration of the Queenslander maintains its original ornate nature. It is in its original state.

However, the new extension’s contemporary materials juxtapose with the existing home.

“At the transition from old to new, a perforated metal bridge bordering the side of a light and airy void delicately connects to the rear facade of the original dwelling.”
– Bones Studio

The extension also significantly increases the total space of the home.

House’s Design Response to Climate and Environment

Apart from the traditional responses of a Queenslander, the architects considered some additional features to address the hot, humid climate and site.

Large sliding doors open out to the backyard and pool. The natural wood frame glass doors have a strong relationship with the natural outside environment.

Photo: Cathy Schusler

A small outdoor covered patio helps provide some shade from the sun and shelter from the rain. However, this is not very deep and will likely let some sun in during the year’s cooler months.

The dining room has a double-height ceiling. In addition, the lounge area on the ground floor and the sitting room on the upper floor are open to that double-height space.

Photo: Cathy Schusler

This space has those large sliding doors. However, they also have high-level jalousie windows. Hence, air can constantly move through public spaces. Those high-level jalousie louvre windows are beneficial for providing an area for warm air to rise and exit the home.

Conclusion

Traditional houses in tropical regions are good at responding to their climate, culture and environment. This Queenslander home is no different.

The renovation maintains the character and performance of the original house.

In addition, the extension of the house connects with the garden and pool on the ground level. This connection to grade level is not standard in traditional Queenslander homes. However, the architects create an extension that contrast yet complements the original house.