Turrbal and Yuggera peoples
Queensland
Brisbane
Salisbury Seam House redefines the Queensland worker’s cottage, weaving character, and contemporary life with subtle confidence. The humble original home is celebrated, carefully adjusted, and grafted onto, revealing its latent potential. At the heart of the project, a dramatic wrap-around loggia, and a procession of highly crafted, operable timber doors dissolve boundaries between inside and out, creating a playful, flexible, and expansive home despite its modest footprint. The project challenges conventional room layouts, expanding constrained spaces so the small site never feels small, and provides a home the owners can grow into. Shou-sugi-ban cladding and refined detailing elevate everyday life, demonstrating the inherent potential of the traditional Queensland house to be re-imagined and remade with contemporary craft.
Salisbury Seam House provides an exemplary response to the Queensland worker’s cottage. Clever layering of enclosure for different times of day and year, and a variety of modes of use, allows flexibility and adaptability for daily life and special occasions. Privacy and thermal comfort are carefully controlled, with strategic site utilisation for flood resilience, integration of landscaping and budget constraint. Low-maintenance and authentic materials are crafted into a highly functional home achieving a remarkable sense of openness and permeability.
We approached Refresh to explore a renovation of our 1910 workers’ cottage, creating a light-filled, functional home that preserved its street character and single-storey scale. Their proposed addition met both functional and aesthetic needs, providing new spaces that seamlessly connect to our side gardens while enhancing privacy. We were particularly impressed by their conceptual thinking and attention to detail, guiding the innovative scheme through council approval and selecting the right builder. Refresh’s meticulous approach ensured bespoke features were achievable within budget, demonstrating creativity, careful planning, and unwavering dedication throughout the project.
Llewellyn Griggs, Project Architect
Erhard Rathmayr, Design Architect
Monika Obrist, Graduate of Architecture
Joel Burrows, Graduate of Architecture
Claire Phillips, Interior Designer
Viva Property Group, Town Planner
NGS Engineers, Structural Engineer
H Design, Hydraulic Consultant