Living in a chic garage is different – garage conversion in Australia

You can live differently and that is in a garage. Garages are mostly cramped between terraces and houses, so they are dark and look depressing. Before the renovation, this wasn’t really that different in Australia. However, it has been cleverly transformed into a pleasant, modern living space by Sam Crawford Architects. Rebuilt and modernized, the room impresses with a lot of light and modern industrial chic. It is cut long and relatively narrow. The available living space is optimized and you can differentiate living, dining and kitchen areas. However, they run very smoothly into one another due to the choice of material.

Living differently in the garage

Where there used to be garage doors, floor-to-ceiling patio doors are now used. These consist of up to 98% glass and open the room to the outside. A kind of terrace or patio area is formed. A tree planted in the middle and other plants on one side provide a fresh flair. You can also look forward to an indoor garden. It is possible to grow plants because the space between the garage and the adjoining house is roofed with glass. This means that both the plants and the garage receive sufficient daylight.

Live differently – garage conversion

The outer walls in the so-called inner garden, but also one wall through the entire living room, are clad with recycled clinker brick. The clinker walls combined with the concrete floor and the black steel convey the industrial and loft flair. The ceiling is high and the furnishings are angular, robust and extremely functional. Professional photos and open shelves with personal items make the living unit look individual and give it a cozy look.

A garage has been transformed into a comfortable living space

The architects and designers have mainly selected natural materials as the material palette for the newly created living space – steel, recycled bricks, concrete and wood. The individual areas merge into one another and create an appealing, harmonious overall picture. The floor covering throughout the room is uniform and made of concrete. The material has become a design element that is understandable in the kitchen area.

Next to the living room is the open kitchen. Here the fronts are made of wood and the worktop is made of concrete. The extraordinary choice of material for the kitchen countertop uses concrete as a design element. However, this is not rough, but perfectly smooth, impregnated and therefore definitely easy to care for.

The irregular and therefore very charming structure that the recycled clinker bricks create enlivens the space. The wall design does not seem out of date. In contrast, professional photographs complement the individual design. They are hung on the wall in simple, narrow frames and create a reference to the lattice window fitting and the black stainless steel strips.

The folding doors to the so-called garden let in plenty of light. Since the garage is attached to the house and is connected to it by an internal staircase, the residents have direct access to the rest of the building without having to leave it. If you want more peace and quiet, you just have to close the door to the old building.

The conversion of an adjacent garage is a very good solution to expand the living space of the house and to form a residential unit. This is isolated from the rest of the house and offers the possibility to withdraw. Such an architectural implementation is not always permitted.

* a project by Sam Crawford Architects