Houses and alterations for the subtropics.
12projects in the index,
2021 – 2026
Practice of five
Woolloongabba, Brisbane
We design new houses, alterations and small buildings within fifteen kilometres of the city — rooms shaped by sun, breeze and the way people actually live in them.
New houses
Alterations & additions
Raise & build-under
Garden structures
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Index
Hover or focus a row to preview its study. Select a project to open it. Press G for the grid.
■ Completed□ In progressStudies are abstract compositions — not photographs or renders.
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Practice
Studio Lintel is five people in a converted joinery workshop. We take on a small number of projects each year, so the people who draw a building also see it built.
Most of our work is for families improving a house they already love: Queenslanders that need their verandahs back, post-war houses with dark middles, cottages on lots too small for the brief. We also design a handful of new houses and the occasional small public building.
We work from first sketch to handover — site study, design, documentation, approvals and contract administration — and we stay on call once you move in.
- Studio
- Woolloongabba, Brisbane QLD
- Team
- Five: three architects, a graduate and a studio manager
- Work
- New houses, alterations, raise & build-under, garden structures
- Area
- Mostly within 15 km of the Brisbane CBD
- Services
- Feasibility, design, documentation, approvals, contract administration
- Imogen TallisDirector
- Sam OkaforArchitect
- Mei Lin ChauArchitect
- Daniel ReyesGraduate of architecture
- Priya NairStudio manager
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Approach
Five principles we test every drawing against.
Start with the sun.
Every project begins with a sun study of the site: where winter light reaches, where the western sun needs stopping. The plan follows from that, not the other way round.
Keep the lintel low.
Door heads and window heads set close to the eye make rooms feel sheltered, so a single tall opening feels generous. We draw the heights of openings as carefully as their widths.
Build less, better.
Most briefs get smaller in our studio. Fewer square metres, built from better materials, usually cost less to run and are more pleasant to live in.
Let the house breathe.
A Brisbane house should work with the windows open for much of the year. Cross-ventilation, deep eaves and shaded outdoor rooms come before the air-conditioning plan.
Leave room for change.
Families grow and shrink. We plan structure and services so a house can be adapted later without starting again.
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Contact
Tell us about the site, the brief and your timing. Studio visits by appointment, Monday to Friday.