With a footprint little bigger than a pair of double-garages, two 80 sqm houses have been fitted onto an awkward site on sloping land, which many would expect to contain only one. Infilling a narrow inner-city laneway comprising a varied streetscape, including a four-storey apartment building, stepped to reflect the angled subdivision pattern, these replace the original asbestos bungalow with a much denser development without garages, taking advantage of proximity to public transport.

The houses are organised with the ‘machines’- bathrooms, kitchens, staircases, rowed against the street, concentrating the main spaces towards the garden. These are capped by a pyramidal roof shading a clerestorey that filters sunlight within throughout the day.

The front elevation is therefore highly articulated, expressing the function of each element, creating a legible building from the street. This enhances the streetscape with an active frontage, including a corner window over the entrance to survey the street, that steps in sympathy with its neighbours, echoes nearby elements, and contrasts with the garage doors and apartments opposite.

With bedrooms and bathroom below, living area and kitchen above, a garden half-way accommodates the ground slope and forms the visual focus of the home. With carefully formed storage bulkheads, the section is further developed to block sightlines from the six neighbouring houses to the rear. Framing discrete views into the garden, distant trees and sky, the resulting openings contribute a spaciousness and grandeur that belies the compactness of these homes which are private yet transparent, despite being cheek-by-jowl with neighbours.