J-Pod

Mayfield East, Newcastle

J-Pod is a 16 square metre studio in a backyard in Mayfield East, Newcastle, built for the clients' younger sister Josie, who was moving from rural Gunnedah. It replaced an asbestos shed, was finished in early 2025, and the family built it themselves with friends. Eddie Page of Maxwell and Page Architects: "We were up against the McMansion granny-flat market on this project," so it was set out on a strict 1200 millimetre grid to use full sheets and cut waste, the insulation was over-specified, and most of the fittings came off Facebook Marketplace.

The kitchen fronts are Ikea, chosen when the budget tightened, and the ply above them was picked over cheaper plasterboard; Page: "The ply gives the space vibrancy and volume." The bottle-green tiles in the bathroom through the door were rescued from a skip at the QT Hotel build. Fire separation rules ruled out skylights, so a sawtooth pop-up over the shower brings in light and air, and the roof pitches south to keep the light and the view of a mango tree. Page calls it "the spirit of enoughness we try to bring to all our work."

Maxwell and Page Architects

Maxwell and Page Architects is a small architectural design firm in Newcastle; Eddie Page and Jess Garnham were the architects here.

maxwellpage.com.au · Instagram

Architecture Maxwell and Page Architects (@maxwell.page.architects). Photography @alexmcintyre_photography. Story @kath_dolan. Seen via @housesmagazine.

The picture comes from this post on Instagram.

Researched September 2026. I credit each piece as carefully as I can; if you know more about this one, message me on Instagram.