Currumbin Waters House

2022 National Architecture Awards: National Commendation for Residential Architecture – Houses (Alterations and Additions)

Currumbin Waters House | Nielsen Jenkins

Traditional Land Owners: Yugambeh peoples

Currumbin Waters House is the renovation of a single storey 1989 AV Jennings Display Home which sits on a shared title with the other three house models along a common driveway.

A set of small deletions have been used to open the house up along its North/South and East/West axes to introduce breeze and light to the interior. Simple structures are then used on the boundaries to give a much more generous sense of space and bring the outside in.

Brick elements are retained to provide a memory of the original plan and to stretch the interior into the landscape. Simple paling ‘fence’ structures manage privacy and create an extended pedestrian threshold along the shared boundary.

We’re hoping this project can set an example for a budget conscious re-purposing of this building typology on the Gold Coast that will allow a much more sustainable, connected and conscious way of living.

JURY CITATION

If there’s a simple project that deserves to be applauded, it’s this renovation and reconfiguration by Nielsen Jenkins of an unremarkable 1984 AV Jennings project home in the backblocks of the Gold Coast. Among the aging Commodores and struggling palm trees, this budget intervention creates elevated spaces within the existing footprint and opens the house toward a new covered courtyard that finally gives this home the connection to climate it deserves. This is everyday, accessible architecture that paves the way for our aging suburban housing stock to evolve sustainably.

Practice team:

Dan Saragusti, Graduate of Architecture
Laura McConaghy, Project Architect
Nicholas Russell, Graduate of Architecture
Kelsey Homer, Graduate of Architecture
Morgan Jenkins, Design Architect
Lachlan Nielsen, Design Architect