Studio8 | Partners Hill

Partners Hill were invited to design an apartment within the architecturally significant and heritage listed building, Quamby, designed by Roy Grounds in 1941.

The proposed apartment was to be located in the basement level, originally comprising a laundry and undercroft space and later enclosed as a small flat with an adjacent courtyard garden.

The site presented an unlikely environment for a home, involving exposed footings, presence of damp/wet interiors, minute scale and access via steep terrain. 

Positioned as template project for ‘unlocking’ underutilised housing stock in Australian cities, the project demonstrates: 

• A ‘deferentially exuberant’ incorporation of key sensibilities observed in Grounds works
• Design strategies to enlarge perception of the tiny site
• Almost anthropomorphic micro-design and emphasis on multiple-functionality
• Recycling and reuse of existing materials
• Site reconfiguration to rely on passive environmental strategies with nil active heating and cooling systems required