Brought to you by James Hardie.
If you’re looking to refresh your dated-brick home, there are some common routes many homeowners tend to follow. Often, that’s painting the outside or adding cladding over the top of the brickwork to give the property a fresh look.
But there are other options. Homeowner Bianca Hall was stuck for ideas on how to modernise her beachside family home in Copacabana, NSW. She wanted to revive and reshape the exterior of the dated brick house, so she turned to acclaimed architect Julian Brenchley for his expert advice and design.
“We love our little piece of paradise, but our home is so tired and dated,” Bianca says. “We want a modern look, but knocking down and rebuilding just isn’t an option.”
Before – the original, dated home
Renowned for his work on The Block, Julian had an innovative solution to Bianca’s design dilemma.
“You can do anything with the Hardie™ Architectural Collection,” he says.
“The look is only limited by the imagination of the designer. You can choose to preserve the existing brick structure while adding a modern extension, or you can clad the entire house to achieve a harmonious design, at a fraction of the cost. The possibilities are endless, and the outcome can be absolutely transformational.”
Expert advice
Julian first redesigned Bianca’s home’s ‘function’, and then moved on to the ‘form’.
“This home was crying out for a design response that reflected the orientation and function of the house. So, we opened up to the northern light and capitalised on the southern view to the ocean.
“Once that decision was made the ‘form’ of the facade started to take place. With a mid-century modern look, we used Hardie™ Fine Texture Cladding and Hardie™ Axent™ Trim to create a board and batten look and Hardie ™ Brushed Concrete cladding on the lower levels – the 1950s coastal shack reimagined,” Julian shares.
After – 3D render of the modern home design
Keep reading for Bianca’s thoughts on the process and result.
How long did the process with Julian take?
The process with Julian was really quick – a week or so to see his initial sketches and moodboard. He had a really great understanding of what our home needed and was able to challenge our original ideas of how to renovate our brick home. Traditionally, homes like ours are rendered but we felt like we would just have the same looking home with all that expanse of render, so that option really wouldn’t solve our issue of wanting a modern looking home.
How did seeing the 3D render and the design process help clarify your vision for your home?
I never could have imagined that our home could look so beautiful. It has great bones but like most 70s/80s homes it wasn’t designed for the way we live now. Seeing it as a 3D render really challenged us to think about what we needed and how we live. We also had to think about the façade first impression and street appeal – how did we want to feel when we pulled up in the driveway? I would love to drive home and see that gorgeous home every day!
Did it change what you thought you wanted?
What Julian put forward was completely different to what we thought we wanted. Both from a floorplan perspective and façade perspective. We thought we were living in our home in the best way, but it turns out we were wrong! He suggested moving the master from the middle level up to the top extension and turning it into a master suite. He also reconfigured the living/kitchen/dining area to take advantage of the views and sun. The mid-century modern façade that Julian suggested is polar opposite to the modern coastal home we thought we wanted.
We live on acreage, so the materials have to be considered, and James Hardie products are great for the fire rating challenges we have. The palette he chose was also very considered and sits beautifully in the green surrounds.
Have you had the work carried out yet?
Not yet. We’ve just had the 3D render completed over the last month so next steps will be appointing a builder, and the DA submission. I can’t wait for it to be a reality.
See Bianca’s new home come to life in the video below.
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The James Hardie Transform Your Brick Home guide is packed with inspiration and solutions for transforming your dated home. Visit James Hardie to learn more.
Brought to you by James Hardie.
WriterDelicia Smith
