Highgate Park House
Brisbane Qld : Residential : 2018
Architect: Vokes and Peters
Structural Engineer: Paterdis
Photography: Christopher Frederick Jones
Awards and Nominations
Best House Alteration and Addition over 200sqm
Houses Awards, 2021
– Awarded to Vokes and PetersCommendation
The Design Files Design Awards, 2020
– Awarded to Vokes and Peters for Residential Architecture
Built in the 1860s, Highgate Park House is believed to have been the home of one of Brisbane's first colonial settlers, who gave the inner-city suburb of Highgate Hill its name. An architecturally designed alteration and addition to an existing historic cottage.
The Challenge
The rear addition to the cottage openly engages with the street edge. The full perimeter glazing leaves no room for columns or lateral bracing elements. Continuous glazing, windows and doors enclose the entire street and rear park elevation of the addition. Above the glazed perimeter is a geometrically complex pitched roof, rear viewing deck and suspended concrete element that continues through to wrap the border of the rear entertaining area.
The outcome
A suspended concrete ‘L-shaped’ lintel spanning 12 meters forms the support for the rear dining room and kitchen roof structure. The lintel continues around the residence to provide lateral support to the boundary brick fence. The suspended concrete lintel is supported on triangular shaped brick clad piers beyond the glazed perimeter and above the side retaining wall. Brick clad, steel column and concrete filled composite piers provided required strength whilst still achieving the desired triangular pier form.
A central steel truss and cantilevered roof beams were incorporated to achieve column free hallway space.
A composite steel and concrete viewing deck is supported on a shallow steel grillage leaving high ceilings to the bedroom below.
