The brief set by the client was to adapt the existing house such that it met the needs of the family while retaining the sense of the original house. The house had been little changed since built in the 1940's and retained much of the fine qualities of its dintinctive materiality, particularly in terms of the brick and timber window frames, and fine internal detaling such as tiled fireplaces in both lving rooms and bedrooms. We wanted to keep as many of these features as possible, while making a house that responded to the needs of a family. Thus the design respected to a great extent the form and materials to the front, while responding to the southern orientation to the rear, opening up with large glazed areas and a much more contemporary use of forms and materials. The materials to the rear match those to the front, brick and white painted timber windows.