Following a national design competition, Tigg + Coll Architects were appointed to design a barrier-free home for the Taussig family and their two young boys, Theo and Oskar, who suffer from Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy.

The challenge was to re-model and extend the family’s 1930s bungalow in Box Hill in a way that would meet both current and future needs of the Taussig family, and consider the ways in which the children’s mobility will change over time.

The key driver was creating spacious rooms for the boys with expansive views of the garden, and so large-scale glazing was designed to fully open up by sliding within the walls. The timber diagrid cantilevered roof is a playful yet practical structural solution, which acts as a continuous timber canopy over the internal spaces and external terrace, forming a sheltered play space and veranda under its protective tree-like canopy.

Both the design and delivery of the project was an innovative, collaborative process of consultants, contractors and suppliers willingly donating services, time and materials. The principal donor being Ballymore, offering access to their supply chain. This provided the opportunity to use material and construction technology not normally used in one-off homes, such as pre-cast insulated concrete sandwich panels, typically used in high-rise, multi-unit construction. The visible glulam joist structure enables maximum flexibility and use for the extension, being able to support additional weight at any given point if necessary, to adapt for any future medical support and equipment which the boys may require.

This particular home has quite literally changed the future of these two brothers in helping to create a barrier-free home that will enable them, and not disable them further.

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