Now, and perhaps more than ever, the home as an archetype is being tested and redefined. Once a place to eat, sleep, bathe and entertain, the core demands of a home have increased to include offices, meeting rooms, supplementary classrooms, studios and workout space to name a few. We are at a tipping point where the need for more functional area within our homes is growing while, concurrently, as a society we are moving towards consuming less; that is, less carbon footprint, less energy consumption, less waste and less impact.
How then do we reconcile the need for more with the desire for less? Clare Steen, a founding Director of Plain Architecture and owner of the Cataract Gorge House, says the solution for her family home lies in adaptability; a…