Brookes Street House in Brisbane, Australia by James Russell Architect

Nestled between two 19th century state heritage-listed buildings in Fortitude Valley, the Brookes Street house by James Russell Architect is a modern, raw, cubby-like home for a family of four. Whilst high density development was permitted under the planning scheme, it was decided that a small-scale proposal that enhanced the experience of the listed buildings was more appropriate.

A major challenge in constructing the project was to create a secure and green inner sanctum amdist the chaos of 2 major arterial roads that feed the city of Brisbane.

Built for the Brisbane climate, with a grass court, open to the sky, dividing the two wonderfully open living spaces. These two ‘pavilions’ are subtly connected spaces, snugly pinned against a listed church building and lifted off the ground atop what to these eyes looked like a contemporary take on the classic Queenslander ‘Under the house’.

The plan has two discrete elements – a communal kitchen/meals/living space and a bedroom block. Each element is connected via a promenade deck. To move from element to element and from room to room one has to go outside and then inside thereby being exposed to the heat of summer and the extremes of winter. This strategy was requested by the client as a way of using the weekend house to re-humanise oneself after a week of office work. It serves to de-sanitise the controlled 22degree C built environment to which we have all grown accustomed and to remind the occupants of their own frailty.

This building forms part of our on-going research into the evolution of an Australian architecture in the Asian region. Fragments of the outback homestead – the sunroom, the breezeway, the sleep-out are re-organized into an abstract verandah which shelters and protects the occupants while enhancing the fluidity of the spaces and their loosely defined nature. ‘Inside’ and ‘outside’ are deliberately ambiguous. The external environment is filtered through a series of layers so that harsh extremes are tempered and the occupants are held and nurtured by the building.

Photographs by Richard Powers