At 110-square-metres, Canning Street showcases the beauty and benefits of small-footprint living. It’s simple, lean and tidy, with calm, relaxing and light-filled spaces for family life and entertaining. Northern light filters inside through a tall glass facade that opens to the courtyard, while high-level reeded glass and an enclosed garden bring in natural light on the eastern side. The children’s bedrooms are downstairs, the parent's upstairs, and the kitchen, dining and lounge area are in a long and narrow volume.

A large, simple design gesture – a curved ceiling – creates different spatial experiences as it sweeps down from the lounge to the dining area and pitches upward over the kitchen. Timber columns along with the eastern wall frame joinery and functions – study, laundry, pantry, courtyard, record player, television and fireplace – provide clarity to the plan, rhythm to the building and a clear framework for the family to organise their lives and belongings.

Builder: Ferne Built

Photography: Eve Wilson