reimagined habitat

hillside concept

This home was for a retired couple who wanted a sophisticated, calm oasis to move to out of the city, with multi use areas for family and guests to visit and stay, as well as the option to rent out a secondary space to provide some extra income. To capture the magnificent northern views and optimise for both summer and winter also necessitated flexibility of the shading systems. The results are a pared back, light filled space full of natural materials, focusing on the views whilst at the same time protecting from the elements.

hillside haven

reimagined office

This office/living space was created from an unused space under a balcony. Large triple glazed windows to let the garden view and light in, but also to modulate the heat and keep the noise out. Blow in insulation in the walls and ceiling, thermal mass to hold in the heat for the floor, Baltic pine beams and highlight walls and mechanical ventilation allow the space to be healthy and comfortable, with a fresh, calm atmosphere. 

reimagined terrace

reimagined Surry Hills terrace. Taking a near derelict terrace, and updating for modern living for a young family, this was a complete gut and re-design. Termites had destroyed the interior, except for the beautiful staircase, allowing us to open it up to catch north and western sun, provide indoor/outdoor living and three huge bedrooms for their growing family and international guests.

upcoming project- Watson

A garden/nature loving family want to create a highly sustainable, healthy home with as much connection to nature as possible. The brief included both a main and secondary residence, a sense of calm, and a 'Philosopher's walk' for their knock down, rebuild in Canberra's north.

upcoming project- Hackett

upcoming project- Moss Vale

Designed for a young family leaving Sydney for the space of the southern highlands, this house will passive, almost off-grid with a modernised rural style to fit with the location. Abundant sun and views from all angles, this will be a big change for this inner city Sydney family. Completion est. 2022.

reimagined cabins

The brief for this was to create a healthy home for a family retring to the country from Sydney, whose son required long term care due to health needs. It was designed to Passive House standard to ensure the a comfortable, healthy home. The use of biophilic design was also important to the wellbeing of the family for the same reasons, thus the liberal use of wood inside, multiple different viewing locations to gardens and the mountains and lots of sunlight. The clients were also very sustainability minded, and concerned re ongoing energy costs.  Between the house design and the solar array to be used, the house should be energy neutral.
From a design perspective, we settled on an 'Australian/Nordic' theme, combining three cabins- one for the parents, one for the son and other family visitors, and a central living pod.

upcoming project - Farrar

The clients had lived in Europe for many years and are avid ski fans. The brief was to bring the light into a dark home, to connect indoor and outdoor, for the house to be 'witty' and to have a series of distinct spaces/destinations- whilst thinking of ski lodges..... The new designs completely reconfigures the living space to take advantage of their large gardens and the sun- connecting indoors and outdoors.

reimagined ranch

This modern, reimagined American ranch style home was a collaborative project with fantastic clients who wished to semi retire to a wonderful site in country NSW sitting atop a hill with views in every direction. 
Hands on, they intend to build much of this themselves, and so a small studio was designed into the shed from where they will live and work on their dream home.
The house will be mainly off-grid/self sufficient with solar, tank water, sceptic, grey water systems and an extensive vegetable garden all in the plan.
The building fabric and pergola will eventually be covered in deciduous vines.
The house will be heavily insulated which, combined with high quality double or triple glazed windows and a direct North orientation will draw in and retain heat in winter, whilst large eaves, additional shading for summer and ample cross ventilation will keep the house cool all summer. 
This house will be a house for all seasons, inside or out.
This project is under way and will be completed in 2021/2022.


reimagined balcony

The clients are renovating an amazing 1960s Canberra classic, but needed a pergola to deal with the NW sun before the build. They wanted to be able to use it post build with minimal issues.
As we are designing the new property, and understanding the style when done, we designed a pared back, clean, sleek pergola almost 4m wide.
As this was to be reused, for summer we suggested putting a bamboo reed cover over the pergola manually, and then taking down in late March to allow for flexibility and cost effectiveness.
The pergola was screwed together, so that it can all be pulled apart and reassembled easily post renovation. Once reinstalled post renovation, an automated, sensor driven screen system will be installed along the top of the beams, providing all of the flexibility a pergola in Canberra needs to either shade or allow the sun to enter the house.
In the summer of 2019/20, this reduced indoor temperatures by almost 15deg, and the concrete balcony was also more than 15deg cooler throughout. It is also the first time since the clients bought the property 7 years ago that they were able to use the front of their house in summer. All from a simple pergola.....

upcoming project - Ainslie

Williams

upcoming project - Hackett

reimagined entertaining

The clients, busy professional diplomats and their two boys, wanted to extend their deck, add a pool, and connect the home with the back yard, which was never used. By extending the deck and hanging the pool in this suspended space, views to Black Mountain and the sunsets were achieved. An entrance way from the side of the house was also created, leading down to an oversized firepit, BBQ and entertaining space. On the other side of the deck, we created , a kids zone (my favourite spot) with a tennis hitting wall, basketball hoop, a huge level space for the kids to play on, and wide eaves to create shadey spots in summer. The house now has three separated entertaining and activity zones, connected both to the living level above and the side entrance for guests.

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Scandinavian home design in Canberra - Queanbeyan.

This is an example of a mid-sized scandinavian enclosed living room in Canberra - Queanbeyan with white walls, porcelain floors, no fireplace, a wall-mounted tv, grey floor and wood walls.

reimagined bunker

Design ideas for a modern home design in Canberra - Queanbeyan.

Photo of a small modern open concept living room in Sydney with white walls, medium hardwood floors, a standard fireplace, a metal fireplace surround, brown floor and recessed.

To help everyone live in a healthy, beautiful, energy efficient and sustainably designed home.

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Designing Passive Houses for Australia

I’ve always dreamed of having a clean, modernist home, and I’m happy to say that Alice and her team at Atelier Cohen led the way to making that dream a reality! I couldn’t be more happy with the project, my house looks like it could be featured in a Kinfolk magazine. I expressed my wishes of having a clean, natural interior aesthetic and they truly delivered – the natural light in my newly designed home is to die for. They also helped me turn my dated, drab living room into a spacious and cozy space in which I can’t wait to host a party. I couldn’t recommend Alice more, if you’re looking for easy collaboration and top-notch design, you have to reach out to them!

I’ve worked with Alice on a few renovation projects and am still floored by her dedication to design and space planning. Never have I experienced a hiccup or missed communication with Atelier Cohen, and home projects tend to create those sorts of problems! They are professional, approachable, and innovative in a way that anyone with any level of home renovating or staging experience will feel like they are in good hands.

Alice’s eye, advice, and service is extremely rare in this business. If you get the chance to work with them, don’t think twice about it!

I had the pleasure of working with Alice on redecorating my childhood home that hadn’t been touched up since I was a teen in the 80’s. I knew it needed a huge refresh aesthetically, but I wasn’t sure where to start. I had a consultation with Alice about my hazy ideas and she was able to understand my tastes and needs after just one chat! The whole design process was so streamlined and thorough that my fears of things going awry totally vanished after the first few meetings. She walked me through every step of the process, from sharing sketches and moodboards to purchasing the final pieces of furniture and decoration. Working with Alice at Atelier Cohen has got to be my greatest investment, I highly recommend their services.

I’ve always dreamed of having a clean, modern farmhouse kitchen, and I’m happy to say that Maison Kitchen and Bath led the way to making that dream a reality! I couldn’t be more happy with the project, our kitchen looks like it could be the envy of Pinterest. I expressed my wishes of having a light, airy feel with natural but polished finishes, and they truly delivered – the kitchen in my home is to die for. They also helped me turn my claustrophobic galley kitchen into a beautiful open-space plan that makes me actually want to cook and entertain in the kitchen. I couldn’t recommend Maison K&B more, if you’re looking for easy collaboration and top-notch design, you have to reach out to them!

I’ve worked with Maison Kitchen and Bath on a few renovation projects and am still floored by their dedication to design and construction. Never have I experienced a hiccup or missed communication with them, and home projects tend to create those sorts of problems! They are professional, approachable, and innovative in a way that anyone with any level of home renovating experience will feel like they are in good hands.

Their advice and service through all stages of any project large or small is extremely rare in this business. If you get the chance to work with them, don’t think twice about it!

I had the pleasure of working with Maison Kitchen and Bath on renovating my childhood home that hadn’t been touched up since it was built in the 50’s. I’m quite environmentally minded, so I knew the appliances and electrical elements needed an update. I also knew it needed a bit of a refresh aesthetically, but I wasn’t sure where to start. I had a consultation with them about my hazy ideas and they were able to understand my tastes and needs after just one chat! The whole renovation process was so streamlined and thorough that my fears of things going awry totally vanished after the first few weeks. Working with Maison Kitchen and Bath has got to be my greatest investment, I highly recommend their services.

I’ve always dreamed of having a clean, modernist home, and I’m happy to say that Haus Design + Build led the way to making that dream a reality! I couldn’t be more happy with the project, my house looks like it could be featured on Architecture Digest. I expressed my wishes of having high ceilings and large windows, and they truly delivered – the natural light in my new home is to die for. They also helped me turn my claustrophobic galley kitchen into a beautiful open-space plan that makes me actually want to cook and entertain in the kitchen. I couldn’t recommend Haus DB more, if you’re looking for easy collaboration and top-notch design, you have to reach out to them!

I’ve worked with Haus Design and Build on a few renovation projects and am still floored by their dedication to design and construction. Never have I experienced a hiccup or missed communication with them, and home projects tend to create those sorts of problems! They are professional, approachable, and innovative in a way that anyone with any level of home renovating experience will feel like they are in good hands.

Their advice and service through all stages of any project large or small is extremely rare in this business. If you get the chance to work with them, don’t think twice about it!

I had the pleasure of working with Haus Design + Build on renovating my childhood home that hadn’t been touched up since it was built in the 50’s. I’m quite environmentally minded, so I knew the appliances and electrical elements needed an update. I also knew it needed a bit of a refresh aesthetically, but I wasn’t sure where to start. I had a consultation with them about my hazy ideas and they were able to understand my tastes and needs after just one chat! The whole construction process was so streamlined and thorough that my fears of things going awry totally vanished after the first few weeks. Working with Haus DB has got to be my greatest investment, I highly recommend their services.

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