Like many home renovators the owner/designer of this semi-detached had to juggle a set of competing demands, not the least being a fixed budget. Her solution was to focus on the simple ambition of bringing the northern light in to where it would be most appreciated.

When architect Luke Middleton transformed a grand 1920s Arts-and- Crafts-era property designed by Harold Desbrowe-Annear into a six-star entertainers’ home for his client, he tied old and new together using a sculptural ribbon fascia. It’s a striking but practical device inspired by the deep, exaggerated eaves of a designer Middleton describes as ahead of his time.

The striking coloured side wall of this worker’s cottage in Brisbane gives a large hint that this is no standard renovation. Inside, the absence of walls creates a flowing internal layout that embraces the outdoors yet has the option to bunker down when required..

Winner of two AIA (WA) awards, this renovation of a narrow, rundown cottage in inner- city Perth shows that more space doesn’t have to be the answer to improved liveability; it’s more about reconfiguring what you have.

Driven by the wish to live more sustainably, a Melbourne family has undergone a two-year project to transform a “renovator’s delight” into a highly efficient, individualistic home.

The central idea for this two-storey addition was inspired by Japanese courtyard houses that are, like this Sydney cottage, tight for space.

Designed with a certain nostalgia, this new weekender takes the best of the fibro shack ideal – simple amenity in a beautiful location – and interprets it with contemporary materials and the essentials of sustainable design.

In Australia prefabricated or modular housing is a low 5% of the market, but it’s growing. It may never be your thing, however the pros are quite compelling, as one family in suburban Melbourne discovered.

A renovation of an inner-city Sydney terrace by its architect owners, Peter Rush and Heidi Seemann, has produced some surprising results working with only a minimal budget and the existing bones of the house.

It’s not often an architect is given completely free rein when it comes to designing a house, but an interesting St Kilda subdivision in Melbourne’s inner south offered Fiona Winzar just that. Her playful response to a small, park- side site so charmed her clients they decided to sell their existing home and move right in.