Toowong Renovation Residential Home

The rainforest pond was central to the idea of turning the home into a small urban sanctuary. Rather than treating landscape as something separate from the architecture, we wanted it to become part of how the house performs and feels.The rainforest pond brings water, planting, humidity, movement and sound into the centre of the home, creating a cooling and calming microclimate. It is also enclosed to help keep leaves and debris out, reducing maintenance and allowing the water landscape to remain clean, calm and functional within the home. The documentation shows the pond was carefully detailed with sub-surface boulders, overflow outlets connected to stormwater, waterproofing, drainage layers and a planting depth requirement, so it was not simply decorative — it was designed as a functioning water landscape.Together, the pond, planting and shaded outdoor spaces help create a more self-contained ecosystem within a dense urban setting, one that supports cooling, biodiversity, stormwater management and a strong emotional connection to nature.

The curved forms came from the site itself. This was not a flat, simple block. It had a strong slope, mature trees, existing levels and quite a complex relationship between the original Queenslander, the pool, the courtyard and the gardens.Rather than forcing a rigid geometry onto the site, the design uses curves to guide movement naturally through the house and landscape. The curved stair, curved pool edge, curved garden walls and screened forms help create a softer flow between indoor and outdoor spaces.From a climate point of view, the curves also help avoid hard, enclosed spaces. They allow the courtyard to breathe, create shaded edges, and encourage air movement through the outdoor rooms. High-level glazing, shutters, ceiling fans and openable screened areas then support that passive cooling strategy. The drawings specifically identify high-level motorised shutters and high-level shutters above beams, showing that air and heat control were considered as part of the architectural system, not as an afterthought. So the organic forms were both aesthetic and practical. They helped the house feel calmer, more natural and more connected to the landscape, while also improving comfort in Brisbane’s climate.

The floating stair was one of the most ambitious parts of the project because it had to work on several levels at once. It was a circulation element, a sculptural feature, and part of the landscape experience.The challenge was that it sat within a very layered courtyard environment, with the rainforest pond, planting, level changes, pool area and screened structures all around it. Technically, the stair needed to feel light and floating, but it still had to be structurally resolved, safe, durable and coordinated with drainage, waterproofing and the pond system.The creative solution was to treat the stair as part of the landscape rather than just a conventional stair. It becomes a journey through the garden, almost like stepping stones over water and planting. The sections show how the courtyard, green roof, existing house, laundry/hall area and rainforest pond were all coordinated through the level changes. The success of this element is that it turns a practical problem, moving between levels, into one of the most memorable experiences of the home.