Grand Designs Australia 7x9 - Hamilton Japanese Queenslander,QLD

What do you do if you're a perfectionist, revel in precisionand minimalism and have a deep fascination for all thingsJapanese? Well, if you're ex-advertising guru turned Japanesebar and restaurant owner Steve Minon, you track down iconicKobe-based architect Yo Shimada to realise your dream of aJapanese inspired Queenslander. Steve has an extremely steepblock of land in the Brisbane suburb of Hamilton that will takean engineering feat of epic proportions to bring Yo Shimada'sgroundbreaking east meets west vision to life. Especiallybecause conditions in flood prone Queensland are vastlydifferent from Kobe, something that becomes all too clear whenthe build is battered in cyclonic weather that washes much ofthe steep block away. With such precise and intricate designdetails, including the galvanised steel framework constructedby robotics, this stripped back home takes its cues from therefinement of Japanese culture. Simple raw materials andexposed junctions that reveal the intricacies of theconstruction. It ticks all of Steve's boxes: one bedroom,simple, elegant and pared back, but when his partner,musician Jonny moves in with his grand piano, will this modestbut beautiful house for one become a house that also works fortwo?