B&B Residence isn’t quite like any other Australian home we’ve seen. Somehow, from the familiar bones of a weatherboard Queenslander, local architects Hogg & Lamb have reimagined an utterly unique, contemporary home with unexpected curves (‘barrel vaults’), lending the interiors an almost ‘Church-like’ serenity.
Hogg & Lamb established their Brisbane-based architectural design practice in 2016. Both have been working in the industry in Australia and the UK since the 1990s, with Michael previously having spent 15 years at Brisbane’s revered Donovan Hill, on projects including the Robin Boyd awarded D House!
The co-founder took a few moments to chat to us about the remarkable B&B residence.
Can you give us an overview of the alterations carried out at the B&B Residence?
The B&B Residence re-invigorates the life of an existing Queenslander cottage in inner-city Paddington. A new extension is carefully considered to mitigate the issues of a steep site and overlooking neighbours, creating platforms and private courtyards that extend the functioning ground plane.
Internal and external volumes interlock, expand and compress in a delightful sense of play, with geometric barrel vaults defining the significance of rooms. Views are edited while portions of the sky, trees and mountains are carefully framed through a series of openings, peepholes and voids.
Tell us about your work on the interiors and the atmosphere you’ve created here?
The owners are committed minimalists, and this drove the aesthetic of an elegantly bleached palette and stripped-back surfaces. The removal of superfluous materials led to a focus on ‘volume as room maker’ with memorable barrel vaults defining significant rooms.
The crisp aesthetic of the new exterior amplifies the character of Brisbane’s subtropical setting: sharp light and shadow, bright blue skies and lush green landscapes, in deference to vernacular exemplars. Interior surfaces subtly reflect and play with natural light, while the restrained palette of materials and finishes highlight the essential qualities of what remains in a heightened atmosphere of calm.
what have you enjoyed most about this project?
Planning strategies and material selections focused on the client’s request for a ‘peaceful house’, and post-occupancy feedback has been positive. The distance between the Master Bedroom and children’s rooms, initially viewed by the client as radical, is now cherished.
The effect of removing superfluous materials and colour from the project has also proved successful – the subtle movement of light, the blue of sky, the green of lawn, and the turquoise of water are truly experienced in a serene atmosphere.
