The brief: to get everything a family needs onto a small, steep site, without the house ever feeling cramped.

This meant a total transformation, so the new home went up on the original foundations to allow for four bedrooms, a downstairs suite that can adapt for an elderly parent, a kids' playroom, a proper service yard, and two garages where there was one. There are enough windows to pull in Lion's Head, the mountain and the sea.

But the real work was planning every detail of how the family would move through it.

Kids and parents each have their own territory, with the kitchen sitting between them, so everyone can entertain their own friends without landing on each other's heads. She comes in from her parking spot straight into the kitchen, past the yard where the washing hangs. He comes in on the lower level, past his gym and wine cellar, up to a private work-from-home suite with its own deck.

The kitchen is the heart of the home, especially designed for avid hosts. It connects young and old, family and guests, the inside and outside. An eat-in kitchen, an island that works as a server between living and dining, and a tucked-away sink so visitors never see the mess from the dining room.