Mapleton House
Blackall Range, Queensland
A house for two at Mapleton, on the Blackall Range behind the Sunshine Coast, finished in 2024. Two tapered forms clad in zinc sit pushed down below the street, so the footpath keeps its views of Mt Ninderry and Mt Coolum, and there are no fences, just endemic planting running to the public stair beside the house. The zinc was chosen to patina silver and let the house recede into the range, while its pitched form answers the local building rules.
The room in the picture is the working heart of the plan: a courtyard carved from the centre of the house, separating kitchen from living, pulling light and air deep inside, and doubling as the main path through, so every crossing registers the weather. Inside is Queensland hoop pine plywood, silver ash and polished concrete, with sandstone steps and an Accoya timber deck, and the house runs without mechanical heating or cooling. Photographed by David Chatfield, it took the Robin Dods Award in Queensland and a National Award for residential architecture from the Australian Institute of Architects in 2025.
Atelier Chen Hung
A Brisbane practice founded in 2008 by Melody Chen and James Hung, whose Taiwanese-Australian heritage shapes how they read the Australian landscape. The work runs across houses, institutional and government projects, treated as a cultural endeavour.
Architecture and interiors Atelier Chen Hung (@atelierchenhung). Photography @davidchatfield__. Builder @am_build. Engineer @michaelg_westera_partners. Landscape @brushboxdesignecology. Seen via @co_architecture_au.
The picture comes from this post on Instagram.
Researched August 2026. I credit each piece as carefully as I can; if you know more about this one, message me on Instagram.