10 Compact Homes That Maximise Space

A Quietly Robust Brunswick Home That Fits Together Like A Puzzle

The client of this single-fronted Victorian in Brunswick loved its existing feel, but recognised a lack of natural light and connection to the garden. Having lived in the house from his mid-20s to mid-30s, the house had slowly become more ‘grown up’ over the years, calling for updated interiors to reflect this.

Moving away from the common open-plan response, Placement Studio designed new living spaces to offer more intimate moments, with a loft above. The result is a quietly robust home, utilising joinery that fits together like a puzzle to cleverly define rooms.

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An Uncompromising Auckland Family Home On A 42 Square Metre Footprint

The work of architect Oli Booth considers how existing suburbs can cater for more people, while still achieving considered, functional, and beautiful family spaces.

It was this question that drove that creation of his own family home, Lightly Weighted, located in Grey Lynn, Auckland.

Oli designed the robust two-storey home concealing thoughtful spaces on a mere 42 square metre footprint. The environment is folded into the property through carefully inserted skylights, slide-away windows framing optimal views, and ever-changing shadows created by the fluted concrete facade.

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A Tiny Slice Of Japan Inside A Pink Darlinghurst Terrace

On a tight Darlinghurst street just moments from Sydney’s Hyde Park lies a tiny, pink 1890s terrace concealing a masterful renovation within.

The home belongs to Laura Butler, designer and maker at Mennt, and her partner Aman Braich, who collaborated with architects TRIAS to completely transform the interior in accordance with Japanese design principles, and German industrial designer Dieter Rams’ philosophy “less but better.”

In doing so, the amenities of the home have been reduced, but the quality of these spaces has remarkably improved.

What this home lacks in size, it makes up for in beauty, form, flow, and community.

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This Designer’s Sydney Family Home Is Just 2.7 Metres Wide

Interior designer Madeleine Wood lives in a classic Paddington terrace, although hers is a little smaller than most, standing at just 2.7 metres wide.

With a toddler and a second baby on the way, it was time to refresh the home, allowing the family to remain in the area they love for years to come.

Inspired by the way Europeans live in densely-packed cities — combining a clever use of space with a sense of a ‘joie de vivre’ injected through materiality —  Madeleine has created a more practical and visually stunning home in inner-city Sydney.

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An Alistair Knox-Inspired Reno Of A 1980s Inner-City Home

‘What would Alistair Knox do?’ was the mantra of this recent house renovation designed by Studio A.mi in collaboration with the owner, Monty Mullooly-Hill.

The pair wanted to instil the same feel the acclaimed local designer was renowned for — albeit on a smaller and inner-city scale, to suit Monty’s home in Fitzroy North.

What they’ve achieved is nothing short of inspiring, showing the renovation potential of a 1980s brick townhouse, in the right hands!

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A Converted Shed-Turned-Home On A Beloved Family Property

Sahara and Myah Trebilcock are happiest when with their parents, sharing a cup of tea on their Red Hill property.

As they reached their 20s, the sisters desired their own independence, without losing this closeness to family. So, to keep the dream alive, they worked with builder Mick Bain to create a new home in a converted shed, located just 50 metres from their parents’ house on the same Mornington Peninsula property.

The off-the-shelf shed has been completely customised with whitewashed plywood walls, country-meets-coastal furniture, and a garden oasis, to form a soulful space where Sahara and Myah can happily reside close to family and community.

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A Thoughtful Transformation Of A Worker’s Cottage In Richmond

A periscope is an apparatus that allows an observer (typically in a submerged submarine or behind a high obstacle) to see things otherwise out of sight.

Architecture Architecture were inspired by this idea in a recent alterations and additions project of a worker’s cottage in Richmond, Melbourne. Playing on the idea of a traditional periscope, the architects inserted a double-height void to draw light deep into the centre of the home.

Clever space-saving joinery enhances the interiors, creating a home that belies its compact 84-square-metre site.

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A Calm Inner-City Melbourne Home That Elevates Everyday Rituals

In 2016, Jaime Vella, interior designer and co-owner of Itself Studio, and her husband Dylan Vella, took a chance and bought a single-fronted Victorian terrace on a main inner-city Melbourne road.

There wasn’t time for a building inspection, but the property was thankfully structurally sound, and exactly the type of home they were hoping to transform.

During a renovation, no additional space was added, but new rooms were introduced through careful reconfiguration. The resulting home is flooded with light thanks to a new north-facing outdoor space, and is decorated to perfection with Jaime’s design expertise!

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An ‘Awkward’ Inner-City Block Turned Architect’s Family Home

After feeling frustrated with the quality of existing housing within their price range, Tan Architecture principal Jos Tan and his partner came across a vacant, ‘slightly awkward parcel of land’ in Melbourne’s inner city.

They decided to embrace the limitation of the 90-square-metre block and build their own family home, designed specifically to suit their needs.

In addition to maximising space by building three floors, Jos found space for a rear garden, a rooftop deck and a dedicated bike garage at entry.

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This Little Cottage Maximises Space With A Clever Renovation

Despite their enduring appeal, most Victorian cottages in Melbourne’s inner-city neighbourhoods were not built for modern family living.

The owners — a family with two teenagers — lived in this Richmond home for almost a decade before engaging Tsai Design to reconcile the original building with its series of awkward additions, to maximise space on the narrow block.

Without straying from the house’s existing footprint, a clever renovation and a raised roofline have captured newfound natural light, garden views, and plenty of warmth.

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