A brick match you can't spot
The new outdoor kitchen wall uses a custom brick blend mixed to match the original 1960s brickwork within one shade.
Office
Unit 2/9-11 Baillieu Court
Mitchell ACT 2911
Australia
Enquire
hello@deolbuilt.com.au
0403 890 301
Considered, budget-honest building.
All projects
RenovationDeakin · South Canberra2024
Deakin Heritage Renovation
A 1960s brick home, extended out the back with an outdoor kitchen the original owners never dreamed of.
TypeRenovation
LocationDeakin, South Canberra
Delivered2024
Build time7 months
The Brief
How this home came to be.
The heritage overlay on this Deakin block protected the street-facing brickwork, so the extension happened entirely to the rear — a new outdoor kitchen and entertaining terrace stepped down into the garden, built in a brick colour-matched to the original 1960s work.
Split-face stone retaining walls were built by hand over three weeks to hold the new terrace level against the block's natural fall, a detail no one will ever think about unless it's done badly.
Site area
820 m²
Extension
42 m²
Outdoor kitchen
Yes
Retaining
Split-face stone
Heritage overlay
Street facade
Duration
7 months
Photographs
On site.
Shot over three visits — dawn, midday and dusk — so the material palette reads the way the family will actually live in it.
What's inside
The specification, in plain English.
Every line here is something we insisted on — not something added to fatten a quote.
- 01Rear extension only — original street-facing heritage brick retained
- 02Colour-matched brick blend for the new outdoor kitchen wall
- 03Split-face stone retaining walls, hand-built over three weeks
- 04Built-in outdoor kitchen with weatherproof cabinetry
- 05Stepped terrace levels to work with the block's natural fall
- 06Rear yard re-graded for drainage away from the house
Signature moments
The things worth
pointing out.
Small decisions that only reveal themselves once you're living in the house. These are ours for this project.
Stone, laid by hand
The split-face retaining walls were built dry-stack style over three weeks — no two stones cut or placed the same way twice.
Respecting what's out front
Nothing about the street-facing elevation changed; the heritage overlay was treated as a constraint worth honouring, not working around.
Where it stands
Deakin,
South Canberra.
- Client
- Heritage-block owners
- Build time
- 7 months
- Delivered
- 2024
