Cieran Murphy
Cieran Murphy is a Sydney-based photographer specialising in architectural photography and interior design documentation. Originally from England, Cieran has resided in Queensland for the last 12 years. His work has a heavy emphasis on line and form in his compositions. It makes sense that the eye for detail runs in the family. Cieran’s affinity with the built environment was stewarded from a young age by his architect father and exposure to architecture from a very young age. His interest in his medium extends therefore from professional, to personal.

The Project
Kent, involves a contemporary addition to a 1925 Queenslander to provide a family home that breathes, and connects the family to the outside in all weather. Nestled onto Teneriffe hill, in the riverside peninsula of New Farm, Brisbane. The project seeks to reinvigorate a tired single-storey Queenslander on a small lot and capitalise on the character and location of James Street & New Farm.

The brief was for a dynamic, private home filled with natural light, texture and interest.
Being on a sloping small lot and with close proximity to neighbouring houses, privacy and outlook is limited to the north and south. The concept centred around the creation of a captivating internal focus in the form of a central courtyard that would improve daylight, cross ventilation and assist in providing sheltered respite on the westerly facing block. The courtyard acts as a separation device to respect and maintain the integrity of the existing cottage which is legible throughout.

The west facing rear garden orientation could provide a challenge for managing heat gain, but the design of the plan is responsive, following the fall of the site to provide higher ceilings, internal voids and operable walls that capture breezes & provide a cool expansive undercroft to the existing cottage.