Outward Bound

A new extension with a modernist sensibility beautifully connects Alex and Dave Bennett’s home with its outdoor spaces.

- Rachel Leedham

After selling their guest house in Byron Bay, Alex Bennett and her husband Dave decided it was time to find a place they could really call home. ‘We felt we were ready for a very different project,’ explains Alex, who works as an interior stylist and creative consultant. ‘Our guest house had a Palm Springs aesthetic and our previous properties had been quintessential beach houses, but this time we wanted a family home with a cleaner and more simplified design.’

The property they decided on was an Eighties bungalow in the suburbs of Byron Bay. ‘What I loved about it is that it didn’t feel tied to any particular time or style – it meant we could put our own stamp on it,’ notes Alex, who enlisted the help of award-winning architectural practice Those Architects to come up with the plans to remodel the property. ‘Our brief was to create something very solid, durable and practical with lots of natural light and a big living space incorporating a kitchen,’ Alex remembers. ‘We got all of this plus more!’