Many of the conversations in this issue focus on retention and transformation of existing houses. With projects from terraced houses to suburban bungalows, the new work is based on a close examination of what already exists. Pleasingly, it is not just about short-term updates or a fascination with the new: instead, the designs explore what changes are needed now, but are loose enough in anticipation of future modifications.

Among these tales of adaptation are a carefully crafted and humorously expressed repair of a historic cottage in Nipaluna/Hobart (Patrick Street by Andrew Campbell and Georgina Russell); a certain conversion of an Arts and Crafts mansion in Warrane/Sydney, where, as Laura Harding claims writes, the past and now “speak honestly and without fear, as (Bellevue Hill House by Tribe Studio) and an inventive infill home on a vacant lot on a lane in Naarm/Melbourne that explores the potential of often overlooked inner-suburban spaces (Life Down a Lane by Tom Robertson Architects).

The cover features the Courtyard House project by Clare Cousins ​​Architects, which explores how memories of an old building can be passed on to a new one. The house remembers its construction and social history replaces the modest corner shop, creating a new home that is both quiet and pleasant to live in.

Alexa Kempton, Editor

Follow Houses on Facebook and Instagram.

Subscriptions and archive issues: printed and digital.