It doesn’t get much smaller than a 4.2m wide site! As with many worker’s cottages, the existing kitchen and bathroom facilities were shunned to the back of the house and questionably constructed (think: fibro-sheeting shower with holes through to the neighbours shower!) – there was even an outdoor thunder-box to deal with.

In this inner-city workers’ cottage our couple wanted a larger kitchen, more storage and an internal bathroom. With a modest addition and reconfiguration of internal spaces we were able to accomodate two bedrooms, bathroom and an open plan living zone.

To be able to host a dinner without losing floor space to a traditional kitchen our solution was to provide the bench space and storage of a full sized kitchen, but not ‘in’ the kitchen. The L-shaped joinery unit runs the full length of the open planned kitchen-dining-living wall. Acting as a multi-function zone the bench begins in the kitchen and allows storage and meal-prep from the dining area then steps down as a tv unit and up again as a study bench in the living area.

Double door access to the small courtyard at the rear of the property allows the flow through space. And a feature, exposed brick wall along the entire party-wall brings fine detail to the zone, making the space appear larger.