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01 The addition’s “in-between room” connects a previously detached existing tower In-Between with the existing house. ROOM Artwork: Keith Burt. by Phorm Architecture + Design • , QLD •

At the home where singer/ Grant McLennan of The Go-Betweens once lived, a new ‘in-between’ room forms a contemporary counterpoint to the original Queenslander.

Words by Michelle Bailey Photography by Christopher Frederick Jones

Axonometric

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he lyrics of the song by Brisbane band space provides a means to connect the tower structure to the house 02 The new addition 1 Verandah The Go-Betweens reminisce about the suburban character of proper, giving it a new purpose and presence on the site. combines the geometries 2 Main bedroom Brisbane’s streets. In this “town,” streets are largely defined by The proposal relies on the removal of the two connecting of its neighbours - the 3 Anteroom the timber and tin vernacular housing, a legacy of a colonial structures’ superfluous exteriors. The base of the tower is eroded roof pitch seen here 4 Bedroom 5 past. These Queenslander homes, cherished for their pyramid- to make an undercroft beneath the projecting mezzanine of mirrors that of the Pantry orginal Queenslander. 6 Kitchen Tshaped roofs, shaded verandahs and crafted ornamentation, are the attic floor above. At the back of the house proper, openings Section 1:400 7 Fireplace invariably found in a state of either decay or renovation. are reassembled so that the living room can extend outside. The 03 Operable walls and 8 Sitting room This particular Queenslander, in Brisbane’s Highgate Hill, has interruption to this interstitial space, made by the positive edges of louvres help to 9 Lounge been reimagined by Phorm Architecture and Design, which carried both house and tower, concede a tension highlighted by old, white capture breezes. 10 In-between room out a series of alterations so that the house could meet the needs of weatherboards juxtaposed against the new glass and timber walls 2 5 6 11 11 Library a modern, growing family. Before these interventions, the building now enclosing the space. 04 While it has been 12 Car space 7 had closely resembled a photo of it that was taken in the 1930s, with The “in-between” room takes its cues from the scale and modernized, the original 3 8 10 the original homestead sitting proudly on a large piece of territory geometry of both the Queenslander and the tower as a way to house’s period details have been retained. overlooking a now forgotten Gloucester Street railway station. mediate the architecture of old and new. The inverted hip of the roof 1 Sometime later, a detached two-storey flat had been added at the rear is the physical collision made by an imagined extension of the tower 4 9 corner of the garden, creating a curious pairing of a house and tower. gable to a parallel stroke of the main roof. Underneath it, a plywood-

Positioned between the Queenslander and the tower, the clad ceiling reinforces the coming together of these two forms and 12 new “in-between room” is an extension of the living space and a strengthens the juncture at this point. A further complexity is contemporary counterpoint to the historic house. The architect added with a purposeful slice off an otherwise rectilinear plan. This imagined the room as “exploded,” that is with structure and form, angled cut steers the room toward a long view over the train line 0 5 m but essentially open to and part of the landscape. Importantly, the and to the east. Plan 1:400

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05 An internal connection was made to a new bathroom and laundry underneath the dwelling.

06 The second floor of the tower can be opened up to the “in-between” room” below.

07 The street elevation of the Queenslander largely retains its original appearance.

Architect Consultants Doors: Custom doors by Bathroom: Alape WTPR Phorm Architecture Engineer: Optimum Architectural Timber wall basin with shelf; Mizu and Design Structures Joinery; custom stainless freestanding bath spout; Shop 6/173 Boundary Street Lighting: Caribou, Inlite steel door by Phorm Scala mixer; Nikles Stahl While immediately informed by the built environment to which of the home. The significance of this place is attributed largely to West End Qld 4101 Architecture and Design Techno Twin Waterrail it anchors, the room is very much engaged with and defined by Grant McLennan, singer-songwriter for The Go-Betweens, who +61 7 3255 2732 Products and Everything Metal showerheads; White Stone nature. Sunlight is captured and shaded expertly, with overhangs once lived there. On the old terrace, Grant and his music partner [email protected] Roofing: Lysaght Trim- Flooring: Boral polished Hox Mini wall basin; Ideal phorm.com.au Standard Tonic toilet suite and sunhoods positioned to work best during the hottest parts of Robert Forster played guitar together, unperturbed by the sound of Dek in Zincalume; Air-Cell concrete slab in Ebonite Retroshield finish; Comcork Flooring the day. Temperature is further moderated by the thermal mass trains passing at the back of the site. Such musings we know because Practice profile External walls: Lysaght cork sheet in clear sealed Floor area of the concrete floor slab and by the breezes that are encouraged they were recorded in a remembrance penned by Robert in 2006, A practice that specializes in Trim-Dek in Zincalume; Lexan taupe finish 446 m2 site through operable walls and high-level louvres. A view to the after Grant unexpectedly passed away in his tower. residential architecture, from twinwall polycarbonate sheet Lighting: Big Ass Fans 271 m2 floor (existing) deciduous tree outside is carefully framed so that it too can Chatting with me in the garden, Paul reflects on Grant’s music semi-remote rural projects to Internal walls: Austral Haiku ceiling fan; Inlite LED 88 m2 floor (new) participate in the orchestration of light and shadow and become part and The Go-Betweens – that they were great and he was a fan, but inner-city reworkings. Plywoods A-grade hoop floodlight, down/up light of a seasonal soliloquy. mostly that he believed the group was seminal for Brisbane in the pine plywood Kitchen: Accent on Stone Project cost In addition to the “in-between room,” other modifications were 1980s. At a time when most people just wanted to escape it, these Project team Windows: Custom windows Pietra grey stone benchtop; $400,000 made to refine the functioning of the house. An internal connection guys were proud of the city and their music spoke of this, he says. Paul Hotston, Jonathan in New Guinea rosewood by custom copper hanging rack was made to a new bathroom and laundry under the dwelling. This This deep and idiosyncratic appreciation of a place can be Kopinski, Nick Tyson, Zsolt Architectural Timber Joinery; by Phorm Architecture and Time schedule was complementary to work that was undertaken in earlier stages to recognized in Paul’s work, too. The extensive portfolio of projects Kiss, Emma Denman Breezway clear anodized Design and Copperform; Design, documentation: aluminium glass louvres; Everything Metal stainless 12 months renovate the ensuite and kitchen. Other smaller edits, including the completed by Phorm Architecture and Design in Brisbane and Builder Aneeta glass frameless steel benchtops and sinks; Construction: removal of an enclosed part of the verandah to let the formal sitting throughout regional is defined by an astute sensitivity TopMarc Constructions double hung awning; Centor Classic Ceramics Santosa 7.5 months room open directly to the outside, completed the alterations. toward, and connection with, place. That In-Between Room came hardware tiles; Formica laminate For architect Paul Hotston, the most important contribution across Paul’s desk and was imagined and realized so beautifully makes joinery in ‘Graphite’; Bosch of the scheme is the retention of the tower and the space outside, this tiny fragment of a “town,” where something special transpired, dishwasher and rangehood; and their transitioning to become a more usable and connected part a fitting tribute to music and architecture. Lofra freestanding cooker

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