The brief: to get everything a family needs onto a small, steep site, without the house ever feeling crammed. 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. While ensuring there were 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 got 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 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.

This family hosts every week, so there's an eating kitchen, an island that works as a server between living and dining, and a sink tucked where guests never see the mess