Exploring the perennial themes of ‘identity’ and what is ‘just enough’, Cascade House is a contemporary extension to an inter-war, solid-brick, semi-detached home in Northcote. Built during WWII, the original dwelling comprised an austere 4 rooms in total, but had a large north-facing backyard.

Our clients were a young immigrant family of four who wanted to expand the residence to meet the evolving needs of their two young children while catering to their lifestyle and culture.

The catch – could we make it all happen without burning a hole in the pocket?

Planning: Right-sized Building for Right-sized Living

At andever, we advocate building smart over building more. We turn questions from “How much space can we get?” to “How much space do you actually need?”

After careful consideration of our clients’ individual, family, and social needs, we doubled the original built area of 76 sq.m. to a modest 150 sq.m., well within the Rescode setback requirements for the plot. The newly designed upper level form was also finely tuned to prevent overshadowing private open spaces. With this, a simple building surveyor approval was all that was needed.

Now, we all know that a smaller overall footprint directly translates to construction cost savings. Read on to find out how we ensured that the resulting home would be right-sized for a family of four.