Major Home Renovation & Extension in
The Gap, Brisbane

The brief was a forever after home. A home that would be a legacy to their children’s children. Strongly influenced by their time living the USA, a Hamptons/Americana style was brought to the design and general feel of the project. A sense of grandeur, robustness, stature, and contemporary design was impressed upon the previously Queenslander style family estate on the hills of “The Gap”.

This concept was in the forefront of all our minds during the build and brought an energy of forever after carpentry skills to the project. Nothing says this more than the great entrance with its smooth transition extending into the home’s kitchen and living area. The addition of the separate parent’s wing expands the home’s need for a growing family, whist the impressive office space also included in the parent’s wing picture-frame’s the magnificent hillside landscape within which it resides.

Its bungalow feel floats on the landscape defiantly, further defining the comfortable and relaxing environment for a busy international work life balance. At the specific request of the owner we were to retain the iconic “Hills Hoist” cloths line. We feel this underpinned the site’s heritage, whilst saluting the contemporary design of the extension.

The architect brought this home to life through the reconfiguration of the existing home’s layout. Bringing a breath of fresh air to the homes former grandeur with the use of open spaces and an impressive kitchen design, all whilst utilising the existing infrastructure. The addition of an underground hallway excavated through rock, allowed for free movement to the downstairs bedrooms. In this particular hallway, a light-well was built into the ceiling. The exposed joists in the light-well not only pays homage to the original structure but textures the hallway walls with light. Due to some immovable roof structures we opted to still use the sun’s free energy with a solar LED light in the light-well.

We also installed solid bespoke doors, framed timber paneling to the stairwell, and VJ lining board to the feature walls – all adding to the robustness and grandeur of the home. Small details like custom skirting and architraves, beautiful tile and natural stone finishes only reinforced the ode to the forever after.

A bespoke fire place mantle was made out of the old staircase timbers, and bespoke vanity bench-tops as well as floating shelves were reclaimed out of the old timber kitchen bench-tops. It was an absolute pleasure for the carpenters to retain such beautiful timbers and repurpose then to the clients delight!

The Architect also created space by exposing the trusses in the main living area. This created significant challenges for the structural implementation of the build as well as in insulating the reduced raked ceiling space. By introducing additional binders and cladding to the existing turns, webs, and structure, we achieved the desired look. Many other structural challenges were evoked in this build such as the tricky excavations through rock involved in this particular location in Brisbane. Working to the strict bushfire ratings was also important, as this home was surrounded by bushland.

It was an absolute pleasure creating this home.

As this was our first time renovating/extending, we were very apprehensive. A significant amount of time and money had gone into the planning stage (i.e. architecture, engineering, approvals, etc) to ensure that our vision was well documented. The key was finding the right team that could make this vision a reality.

Julian and the Mint team did a great job in achieving this. His builders were craftsmen of the highest calibre, whose focus on quality was second to none. Good communication was also key. At each stage of the build (and after) Julian was clear about: 1) any issues and resolutions; 2) the status of current project work; and 3) future short term and long term modules.

The results (winner of the 2021 HIA-CSR Queensland Building Awards for Best Brisbane Renovation/Addition Project over $1 Million and 2021 HIA-CSR Queensland Building Awards for Best Trade Workmanship) speak for themselves.

– Cameron Deane