Boolaroo House

Copy status: Draft complete - unbuilt project

Project details

Boolaroo, Lake Macquarie, NSW · Renovation + addition · Design dated 2019

Status: Unbuilt - a feasibility study exploring the site’s maximum potential

01 / Short description

On a small, tightly constrained corner site, Boolaroo House explores how an existing cottage could be adapted for a growing family while making the most of every available metre. The proposal fits carefully within Boolaroo’s established urban and regional fabric, balancing privacy, outlook and access on a prominent site exposed to traffic from two street frontages.

The design retains the generosity of the cottage’s high ceilings and period character while reorganising the home around flexible family spaces, a practical side entry and a stronger connection to the garden. A white timber screen wraps the more exposed edges of the house, creating privacy and filtering views without closing the home off from light and air.

Although unbuilt, the project tested the maximum feasible potential of a compact site and demonstrated how thoughtful planning could support family life, entertaining, bicycles, prams and dogs within a dense suburban setting.

02 / Atmosphere

High ceilings preserve the cottage’s sense of generosity.

A white timber screen filters traffic, views and sunlight.

Living spaces connect with a private rear garden.

Flexible rooms adapt as family life changes.

03 / The brief

The brief called for a home that could support a growing family, entertaining and life with dogs on a small and constrained site. Flexible bedrooms, practical bicycle and pram storage, privacy from the busy corner, and workable connections to outdoor spaces were key requirements.

04 / The setting

Boolaroo is an established Lake Macquarie suburb shaped by a strong industrial history and the close-grained character of a regional town. Its streets bring together modest cottages, everyday services and a changing residential fabric.

The project responds to this context with a form and material language that feels familiar rather than imposed. On the tight corner site, the design had to negotiate two public frontages, frequent traffic, neighbouring homes and limited private open space. The white timber screen becomes a defining element: a light, permeable layer that provides privacy while allowing daylight, ventilation and filtered outlooks.

05 / Existing + concept

The existing cottage’s high ceilings and period details formed the starting point. Rather than treating the small site as a limitation, the proposal used its constraints to establish a clear planning strategy: protect the private edges, open the shared spaces to the garden and make circulation work harder.

A generous side entry became both an arrival space and a practical passage for bicycles, prams and everyday movement between the street, house and garden.

06 / The design

The layout places shared living at the centre of daily activity and uses each part of the compact site efficiently. Adaptable bedrooms and useful entry storage support changing family needs, while carefully positioned openings connect the interior to protected outdoor spaces.

• Maximum site potential - The unbuilt proposal tested what could be achieved within a small, constrained footprint.
• A screened corner - White timber screening creates privacy from neighbouring properties and passing traffic.
• Flexible family rooms - Bedrooms can respond to changing household needs over time.
• A hardworking side entry - Arrival, storage and circulation are combined in one practical space.
• Life in the garden - Shared rooms open to private outdoor areas for everyday living and entertaining.

07 / The material palette

The palette begins with the character of the existing cottage. White-painted timber screening gives the addition a light, familiar expression while providing shade, privacy and a softer edge to the busy street. New finishes are intended to sit comfortably within Boolaroo’s modest residential fabric.

08 / The home

Explore the proposed sequence from the protected side entry to the central living spaces and rear garden, with the white timber screen mediating between the home and its busy corner setting.

09 / Behind the project

Boolaroo House was an exercise in extracting the greatest value from a difficult site without losing the qualities that make a home calm and liveable. The proposal grew from close attention to everyday routines: arriving with a bicycle or pram, giving the dogs an outdoor route, finding privacy from traffic and making room for a growing family.

Though unbuilt, the project reveals the site’s maximum feasibility and a clear architectural response to Boolaroo’s compact, evolving suburban fabric.