Watson Architects
Watson Architects is a small practice with a focus on: – Architectural design – Environmentally sustainable design – Conservation (heritage issues and adaptive re-use) The practice aims are to provide sustainable and environmentally efficient solutions that respond to the client, the site and its surrounding environment. The practice includes expertise in conservation and adaptive re-use of existing and heritage buildings. Watson Architects offers services and experience in: – Residential projects – Conservation and adaptive re-use of heritage and existing buildings – Conservation / heritage consultancy advice – Sustainability – Architectural advice in town planning matters
Driving directions to Watson Architects on map
Watson Architects on Google Maps
Projects:
AW Residence
Brisbane, 1998
This house was designed as a response to a 400 square metre small lot with Council character code requirements and a series of constraints including a north-south axis, 3 metre slope from north to south from the road level, flood immunity requirements, an 8.5 metre height limit, reactive clay foundations and a low budget. The desire was to create a family house that afforded privacy from its neighbours however provided a sense of space both internally and externally and a best possible passive response to the climate, negating the need for air-conditioning. It was designed as a modern generation of timber and tin evoking the principles, forms and materials of the earlier timber and tin houses in a contemporary building. The result was a multi-leveled building with usable and private front and rear yards with a series of decks for use through the year. Large window areas and opening skylights provide additional light and ventilation to the core of the house and increase a sense of space. Each bedroom enjoys cross ventilation with a private balcony and landscaped views without directly viewing adjoining properties. It is a small house yet feels spacious and open with views to external greenery from all areas of the house. It continues to be refined, with additional improvements for climate control, rain harvesting and more energy efficient use.
Eaton House
Brisbane, 2010
The property is in an inner-city Brisbane suburb and contained a circa 1915 timber elevated house with a separate kitchen outbuilding. The house is surrounded by roads on each boundary. The house had been previously altered to provide lower level extensions and at one stage it was divided into 4 flats. The brief was to provide a larger home to support a young, growing family while retaining the character of the existing house and making the most of the views of the city. The design proposal involved rebuilding the lower level and redesigning the upper level with minimal impact to the original plan layout of the house. The design was to be contemporary in nature but still compatible with the character housing of the suburb. A secondary entry from a side street was provided through the extension linking through to the existing house. The final design provided improved use and enjoyment of the verandahs, a double-garaged dwelling with 5 bedrooms plus an ensuite for the master bedroom, a modern kitchen within the existing kitchen building, living room and dining room, a main bathroom, one powder room, laundry, an entertainment room, internal spa and a grassed backyard.
DS Beach house extension
Sunshine Coast, 2009
The client required a small extension to their twenty-five year old beach house, to provide two additional bedrooms, a new bathroom and a general refurbishment of the building. The proposal provided a rear extension of the existing building and an attached pavilion building for the master bedroom and ensuite, while retaining the beach house character. The design included a re-arrangement of the bathroom layout and the redesign of the street frontage to provide a more defined entrance, additional external deck area plus more daylight and sense of space into the living room area behind the deck. A small but effective refurbishment.
