My Camp Hill Cottage

Honi’s project reworks a modest two-bedroom cottage in Camp Hill, transforming it into a carefully tailored 2.5-bedroom home that opens directly to its garden. The design responds to the site’s overland flow path with a split-level solution, allowing the floor to sit close to the ground while maintaining resilience against weather. Instead of a single large stair, three smaller flights mediate shifts in level, strengthening the relationship between interior and landscape. 

The original cottage retains its traditional character with VJ linings and decorative architraves, while the extension introduces a confident modern contrast: polished concrete floors, square-set ceilings, and dark aluminium framing that directs the eye to the garden. A mature frangipani anchors the composition, with the kitchen volume and glazed openings carefully aligned to celebrate its presence. 

Rather than replicating a back deck, the project embraces a paved courtyard edged in planting and reused bricks, a generous outdoor threshold that enhances the home’s compact footprint. Interior finishes are warm and tactile, with timber joinery, peachy tiles, and stone veining introducing richness within a restrained palette. This is a home shaped by thoughtful economy—minimising demolition, maximising reuse, and investing in enduring finishes—while creating a joyful, sustainable setting for long-term living. 

• Location

  Yuggera & Turrbal Country
  Camp Hill

• Completion Date

  2023

• Builder

  Sheltermade

• Photographer

  Toby Scott