Views extend across the entire second level which holds the living, kitchen and dining areas, out to the tree-lined street beyond. ‘Pop-out’ windows provide access to northern light as well as providing extra floor area and day beds and seats from the pre-cast concrete walls.

Mulloway Studio recently entered the ‘Home’ international architectural design competition, facilitated by Building Trust International. Our submission PARK(ed), a $30K single occupancy house within an urban area of a developed country, was awarded an honourable mention, and recognised as one of the top ten proposals from a field of more than 400 entries.

PARK(ed) is a single occupancy housing strategy designed for Youth ‘at risk’. Measuring 12.5sqm, it is an urban intervention that seeks to activate underutilized car parks in Adelaide’s CBD. The design aims to facilitate a mind-shift from suburban living to micro-urban living, creating a small but highly efficient home within the constraints of a car park and a construction budget of $30K. PARK(ed) is designed to be easily transportable and can be built off-site and assembled on-site.

Dimensioned 5.4m x 2.3m, the design follows a conventional spatial distribution of an Australian home: entry, living room, kitchen and dining area, bathroom, laundry, storage and bedroom. The house has a high roof line creating a large volume about the living area and provides space for a loft bed over the bathroom. The roof window allows light penetration, views to the sky and is operable. The entry porch includes area for laundry and outdoor living with a deck that doubles up as step seating. A stable style door in the living area opens out fully to extend the space or closed partially to create privacy. Open shelves are used as room dividers and balustrades to the loft bedroom. A separate area above the porch gives additional storage but can easily accommodate an additional single bed. The façade opens up to the footpath and includes panels that allow residents to customise them with different paint colours.

Mulloway Studio is currently working on establishing partnerships with organisations to further develop the design.

A significant re-working of the rear half of a timber house in Semaphore has just been completed. Rare for South Australia, a number of timber houses can be seen around the Port Adelaide and Semaphore areas. Having been subject to significant termite attack, south westerly rain and wind, the house was in poor condition.

Alterations and additions have typically ‘reversed’ the house, with living areas addressing the north and west at the rear of the building. Using matching timber cladding and baltic pine flooring, the new work recognises the original without trying to mimic. Located on a relatively compact site, the addition seeks to use the entire back garden as living space. the two major spaces addressing the garden have large operable doors that dissolve the difference between external and internal space. The new spaces also take on a level of ‘verticality’ opening upwards to two established trees that help enclose and focus the external space.