Special commendation - Best Renovation/Addition $750,000 - $1M
The structure is oriented along an East, West Axis, with glazing to the North and solid walls to the south. The thermal mass of these walls, combined with an exposed concrete slab on the ground level, retain and radiate heat during winter. During hotter summer months, the copper screen and the offset overhang of the upper floor protects the ground floor from the high summer sun. Catenary wires for a deciduous vine have been incorporated into the trusses, this vine has the potential to offer further sun protection. The house is entirely double glazed with low E film and the garden and pool are fed by a submerged 25,000 Water tank. An angled garage door, eludes to be half open. When open, the door reveals uninterrupted views deep into the block, momentarily offering a tantalising view of the entire site and challenging the notion of the 'backyard' and private open space. The Compound is resilient, resembling a series of stacked elements opposed to the walls and rooflines of a traditional house.
This outstanding home reflects a design inspired by high-class living and superiority in architectural features. Simple, clean lines and bold finishes shape the external streetscape while the keyless entry sets the tone for the quality and innovation within the home. The elegantly proportioned layout offers fantastic outdoor entertaining allowing for easy transition into indoor/outdoor living. The home includes four spacious bedrooms, master suite including wall-to-wall joinery and a spectacular light-filled ensuite. A bespoke study, gym, three-car garage with extensive storage make this design functional and liveable. The soaring ceilings and extensive window walls ensure ambient light and a blissful sense of space throughout. Built to the highest quality, the home is aesthetically pleasing whilst providing ongoing reliability and functionality.
Nick Lonsdale is a qualified carpenter, has obtained a Diploma in Project Management and has completed a Certificate IV in Building and Construction. He currently holds a Domestic Builder’s Unlimited Licence in Victoria. He is the Managing Director of Lonsdale Building Group and has 17 years of experience in the residential building industry. Nick is a very well accomplished professional builder who can think outside the square and provide alternative solutions to sometimes complex build-ability issues. Client communication and client relations are paramount to Nick. He considers himself a “New Age Builder” through the use of modern, effective and efficient computer software programs and it is through the use of various social media such as Instagram where progress on a building can be monitored and reported in real time. He is to be commended as the 2018 Young Builder of the Year.
Requiring an open living space and more of a connection to their garden, the beautiful Moonah tree became the focal point for the renovation and extension of this 1960s house. The clients required a kitchen that flowed to their outdoor space as well as a north-facing area where they could socialise in winter. The original timber ceiling was honoured in the extension through the hardwood lining boards and the Glulam beams. The design was challenging with the timber finishes and waffle ceiling all being exposed.
A stunning homage to early Australia and Manhattan, the brief was to create a functional home with a very compact footprint, that made good use of space. Many internal walls were removed to open spaces and create room for modern living and entertaining. Given approval to add two levels, the bedrooms take up the first and second floors with further alfresco entertaining spaces on the roof level. All fixtures are slim-line, efficient and reflect a modern industrial look. Windows and doors take advantage of high ceilings offering light and a sense of space. The original home’s red bricks were reused across the three levels..
With the original shell and interiors intact and untouched, this single-fronted Victorian was beautifully brought into the current age. With heritage guidelines in mind, the clients favoured a sympathetic restoration of the front of the house with a clear transition between old and new. The original two bedrooms were restored and share a new bathroom, kitchen-dining-living, as well as a study. A central courtyard now gives northern light into the living space and creates cross ventilation. The first- floor rumpus room opens out to a large terrace.
Previously deemed unliveable, ‘Southwold’, built in 1917, was beautifully transformed over six months into a modern and luxurious home. Considering heritage restrictions, the original front was kept intact with the house completely rebuilt beyond the façade including a new roof, flooring rewiring and windows. Despite the compact footprint, the home features light-filled and free-flowing living spaces. The back was opened with double-glazed glass sliding doors, and the original small kitchen was relocated to the new larger, light-filled space, connecting family living to the new alfresco dining area with swimming pool on one side and a spacious lounge room on the other.
This is a stunning and contemporary family home that respects the period features of its historic suburb. While the long, narrow site presented challenges, the result is a home that retains its heritage frontage, with the rear part of the building expanding to create light-filled spaces. The ground floor features a master bedroom with a powder room, kitchen and meals area flowing to an outdoor pool and spa. The cantilevered alfresco area, bordered by a lush garden at the rear, leads to the double garage. Upstairs there are three bedrooms plus a sitting room/ study space.
Redesigned to create little need for maintenance but without compromising on style, the high, concrete walls are a highlight of this renovated family home. Inside, lining-board ceilings throughout keep the beach house theme, while plaster reveals were installed to all windows and doors to eliminate architraves. The ten-metre hallway takes you past walls of glass overlooking the pool, then opening into the free-flowing kitchen, dining and living area. This large room can be opened with four sets of bifold doors creating an outdoor alfresco feel. The swimming pool is controlled by phone app and is a picturesque centrepiece of the home.
Originally a 1920s suitcase factory, the results of this incredible renovation is four storeys of contemporary, light-filled luxury. It features a fully self-contained apartment on the first floor, several large living spaces on the second, as well as a spacious gym, bathrooms, guest bedrooms and fully functioning overflow kitchen, accessed by a glass-walled lift installed in the original goods lift shaft. Many of the walls were removed from the building, while several historic features such as the original jarrah floors and the oregon ceiling beams were recycled and repaired. All cabinetry and feature wall panels were made from industrial-blackened steel. Custom-made steel and glass bar units were commissioned, using aged brass and granite as the highlights.
Retaining the essence of the Victorian era with contemporary conveniences, this renovated home features an exceptional replication and renovation of the original formal sitting and dining rooms while opening the rear of the property to spacious, light-filled living. The hallway and stairwell were re-plastered to replicate the original look of the home. Timber flooring was replaced with wide oak boards on the ground floor, while the new basement and studio have heated polished concrete floors and velvet-finish polished concrete walls. All fittings were sourced to be sympathetic to the era of the property. The kitchen comprises marble benchtops, top quality appliances, and patina bronze design features.
Designed to accommodate a shallow block, the Saffire 28 features an urban façade. Providing good street presence, with a raised prophet-wall portico the use of render, brickwork and full-height, awning aluminium windows creates an aesthetically pleasing exterior. Internally the focus is on inspiring open-plan living spaces and every-day lifestyle necessities. With the master bedroom located at the front of the home, it has easy access to the ensuite, and oversized walk-in robe. At the rear of the home, an alcove, which is used as a handy drop zone, is a great functional feature when entering the home from the garage.
The high level of demand for design solutions favouring shallow allotments was the driver for the Finlay. Although presented with a smaller footprint to work with, buyers still preferred key inclusions found in larger single-storey designs such as two living areas, a walk-in pantry and a powder room. The Finlay offers all of this without the home feeling compromised. Communal spaces with a good line of sight from the kitchen hub to the living zones and outdoor entertaining space are included in the design. It was also imperative for the kitchen to be the focal point and the heart of the home.
This single story floor plan is at the cutting edge of innovative design, and is suitable for family living on a narrow block of land. The open plan living and covered alfresco, combined with meals, kitchen and butlers’ pantry turn this home into a true entertainment hub which brings the family together. The master suite offers spacious accommodation complete with a luxurious en-suite. The study is very accessible, positioned in the centre of the home.
The Glendale 42 is part of Metricon’s Freedom Range of affordable homes, designed and engineered to be exciting, contemporary and perfectly suited to the second or third home-buyer or first home- buyers with a budget. Despite all its very usable space, this attractive double-storey home, with four bedrooms and two bathrooms, sits comfortably on a 14m-wide and 32m-deep block. It features clever use of space and plentiful accommodation, with open-plan living and three separate living areas plus outdoor room, a separate study, a designer kitchen with butler’s pantry and a hotel- standard master suite with huge walk-through robe and balcony access. Its clean lines and architectural feel characterise a modern and stylish home for today’s discerning buyer that will impress on the finest streets.
The Madison display home is all about luxury family living using both zoning and central connecting areas for a flexible lifestyle. The master bedroom has custom-built joinery to the dressing room and a spacious ensuite with double vanity, large walk-in shower and separate toilet. The main living zone with a raked ceiling and north-facing glazing allows for ample natural light and a connection to the courtyard and outdoor living area. The kitchen and discrete butler’s pantry and laundry work perfectly for everyday living and entertaining guests. There is also a bi-fold servery window from the kitchen to the outdoor room making the indoor, outdoor connection seamless when enjoying a casual meal or drink.
This classic home provides plenty of space to live, relax and entertain on a seamless three levels. Featuring a stately facade with grand formal entrance, the Belle Vue comprises three substantial living zones plus integrated outdoor entertaining areas. It showcases the very latest innovations in smart technology and premium quality finishes and fixtures. An ornate wrought-iron double front door opens to a wide hallway with formal living and dining on one side and a study and guest suite on the other. The hallway leads to a gourmet chef’s kitchen, a stunning marble island bench and butler’s pantry. The double height ceiling above the living and dining areas creates a feeling of air and space, while the expansive use of glass floods these zones with plenty of natural light. Sliding doors to the alfresco dining area invite the outside in.
The design ethos behind this home was to create a modern, solar smart design that maximised space, natural light and practicality. Separate living zones were paramount to the design brief. Bringing the outside in by creating a seamless transition from the kitchen area to the alfresco area and pool was also a key priority to encourage social interaction. Although the rear living zone of the home is quite open, the disguised feature panelled sliding door of the study at the top of the split-level stairs can divide the entertaining and formal zones. The home is environmentally friendly by use of solar technology and water-saving technology, aided through intelligent design and maximising the orientation of the block.
This four bedroom home, with high end finish, captures light and enables space throughout. Solid, recycled, red bricks were used to bring a rustic commercial feel to this coastal home. The floor plan is spacious and free flowing. An open plan kitchen, with butler’s pantry, and meals area, overlook a rear entertaining deck and garden. There is an abundance of storage space located throughout the home, and a double garage with internal access. Quality stone bench tops, floor to ceiling tiles, 2 pac built in robes, and engineered oak flooring, complete this package.
Running east to west enabled maximisation of the northerly aspect to key areas of this beautiful home. The façade is a modern statement with contrasting colours and material and with minimal upkeep. The master bedroom, kitchen, dining and family spaces are all located on the ground floor with a tranquil view of the pool and entertaining area. The oversized garage, laundry and mud room, allows plenty of storage. A study is located at the front of the property to allow it's use as a home office if desired.
A unique home that offers both comfort and sophistication. Inspired by South Hamptons styling, the home features timber wall-panelling, contrast trim work and a stunning, intimate colour-palette. The blue-velvet kitchen is a captivating centrepiece of the home. All three bedrooms feature ensuites, as well as a main bathroom, which are all distinguished with character trim. The subtle use of strapping to the walls enables a refined and overall simplified look. Featuring solar power, highly efficient in-slab heating, double glazing, ventilated skylights and ceiling fans, the home illustrates that environmentally friendly design can be as stunning and practical as traditional methods.
Using passive design elements, this stunning home features crisp, clean lines married with the natural aspect of stone and sunlight to capture and complement the local environment of grey trees from Lake Mulwala. Constructed of brick veneer, the home was to reflect resort-style outdoor living, as well as incorporate a completely different room for entertaining in the lower-level basement. Luxurious open-plan living features a lounge, dining and designer kitchen with stone bench tops, high-quality appliances and stunning black cabinetry. The large cantilevered eaves are lined and lime- washed. Spotted gum is a feature in the kitchen, basement and pavilion ceilings.
Built to a very specific client brief, this Hamptons-style home was designed around summertime family holidays to be spent in the spacious, central living area opening to the swimming pool and outdoor entertaining space. Built on solid foundations of concrete pads and hoop iron cross-bracing, and finished to the highest standard, the house features include Calcutta marble benchtops in the kitchen and custom-made exposed trusses in the living area. Photographs of how each area of the home should look, combined with accurate architectural plans, ensured the execution of design was exact to produce a stunning home.
Staying true to its surrounds and offering superior architectural features, this stunning home was inspired by high-class living while offering incredible functionality. The soaring ceilings and extensive window walls ensure glorious ambient light and a blissful sense of space throughout, while clean, sleek lines sit perfectly in the modern urban landscape. The home offers four bedrooms, a gym and a spectacular kitchen, dining and living area opening to beautiful outdoor entertaining space. The final product speaks for itself: the impressive design and quality of construction techniques have come together perfectly enabling these clients to live effortlessly in this exquisite building.
This contemporary, double-storey home fits within the landscape of the area and cleverly utilises its position and design to create a feeling of warmth and exceptional functionality. With natural light and air circulation a key design consideration, the home offers light-filled spaces enhanced by natural materials such as timber, stone and marble. Each space created maximizes functions and facilitates tidiness through good storage design and logical flow. Spaces were also designed for easy entertainment. This home offers the client’s family a place that can provide the setting of all of life’s milestones.
Although it is bound by concrete on three sides, The home does not present itself to the street as a fortress. Instead, the house is set back offering an uninterrupted sloping field of native grasses to the streetscape. A copper-screened upper floor allows obscured views of figured shadows within, and an angled garage door suggests being half-open. The first floor is a monolithic rectangular box positioned atop the trusses, and offset to create an eave for the living areas below. Inside, the sleeping quarters are veiled by a copper screen inspired by the irregular nature of a bamboo blind.
Located in the small seaside suburb of Seaholme, these townhouses are set in a side-by-side configuration to maximise building footprint efficiency. The form of the building hints at a modernist design, with strong rectilinear lines and cantilevered canopies. A refined exterior material pallet of a charcoal metal cladding, white-render finish, exposed concrete and a natural hardwood front fence and screening to soften the appearance. Large articulated balconies at the front of each dwelling maximise the northern aspect and provide views of the bay. The interior features lightwells next to each of the master bedroom ensuites to create vegetation-filled oasis within the centre of the townhouses.
This project consisted of the construction of two side-by-side, architecturally designed townhouses, each consisting of three bedrooms, a study, large open space living and dining rooms, two large bathrooms and powder rooms with showers. Each townhouse is approximately 28 squares, constructed from boundary to boundary which is a rarity in its location. The townhouses were designed and constructed with special feature walls with curves and hidden concealed doors. Floor to ceiling internal doors, polished concrete with underfloor heating to ground floors, corner glazed windows, architectural feature steel to front and rear, high end architecturally designed kitchens and joinery throughout.
The project's holistic approach to the exterior and interior design is demonstrated in a sculptured multiple-storey podium with an articulated facade, blade walls and deep reveals. A woven metal veil is draped between the blade walls to the street facade, creating private terraces which draw dappled light into the street-front residences, offering texture, depth and privacy throughout. A rich material palette of specially sourced travertine stone, timber floors, polished plaster walls along the woven brass screens, and bronzed metal detailing create a textured, harmonious setting, proving a continuous dialogue between the interior spaces and the seasonal change of the garden.
Representing a strong link to the heritage of Caulfield Racecourse combined with a true sense of community, the vision for this project was to create a great place to live, work and visit with a feel that is local, yet metropolitan; in short, a new world-class urban precinct for Melbourne’s south-eastern suburbs. Caulfield Heath provides excellent buildings of international quality - appropriate, contemporary and sustainable architecture and a cosmopolitan lifestyle within a walkable village, including landmark buildings, offering spectacular views of Melbourne.
St Kilda’s streetscape has long been home to innovative architecture. The modern design of this Fitzroy Street project continues this legacy. Much like the Art Deco and Bondi-style apartments before it, the design embraces both its surrounds and its prominent location. A series of architectural parapets and a crowned, layered façade respond to the streetscape while a rich palette of textural masonry cladding, along with timber panel accents, enhance the character of the design. The generous terraced balconies have been carefully designed to embrace natural light and take full advantage of the spectacular, uninterrupted views across the bay, parklands and city skyline.
The objective of this project was to build a certified passive house with traditional design and construction. The house uses a timber frame and trusses, Colourbond roof and cement-sheet weatherboard cladding, all constructed accordingly to achieve a passive-house standard. As the house is airtight, it includes a mechanical heat-recovery ventilation system. This was also kept within the airtight wrap by the use of bulkheads and lowered ceiling heights in certain rooms, such as the walk-in robe, laundry and bathrooms. This home is the first in Australia to be a certified Passive House with a wood-burning fireplace.
This light filled kitchen continues the modern beach house style of the home, with classic touches such as quality brass fittings and French oak white washed floorboards. The kitchen has been built around a feature 2.5 tonne counter lever concrete island bench, formed up on its own engineered footings and poured in place, with cabinets fitted underneath. The walk in pantry has laminate open shelves with Caesarstone tops, and a ducted vacuum system was installed for easy cleaning. A small concealed wine bar was built behind the cupboard doors on the west end for entertaining, with provisions for a wine fridge below. The impressive six-metre-wide gable windows allow for an abundance of natural light and views out to the pool and entertaining area.
This project required a sleek, yet functional kitchen, fit for a family that loves to entertain. The white Calcutta marble bench tops are contrasted by pops of charcoal laminate cabinetry that ties seamlessly with the matte-black track lighting and other black design accents within the home. To keep the space feeling open and bright, the remaining cabinetry is white 2-pac. The charcoal cabinetry is mirrored under the stairs that wraps from the kitchen, providing a seamless transition throughout the open-plan area. Set against beautifully unique concrete flooring, the kitchen and conjoined butler’s pantry is slightly raised to the combined lounge and dining areas.
All aspects of this kitchen present quality of construction and logical design. The cabinetry was custom-designed and manufactured to suit the space with a focus on functionality with a luxury feel. All tradespeople worked closely together to offer the highest quality materials and design. The butler’s pantry offers a usable benchtop area, sink, dishwasher and fridge space as key attributes of this zone. This allows for the pantry to become a practical food preparation and storage area with the ability to close the doors to the kitchen if need be. Being able to store the Refrigerator and other appliances such as toasters and other small devices means the kitchen can remain uncluttered.
Achieving a stunning, light-filled space on a typically darker south side of the home, the aim of this beautiful bathroom was to continue with the modern beach house theme with classic touches, such as quality brass fittings and herringbone floor tiles. A huge glass panel was placed on top of the walk-in robe timber drawer unit to create a spacious area, giving an open feel. A clear window splashback provides views of an external wall garden. This is a comfortable area with the luxury of under-tile heating, double-glazed windows, wall-hung invisi- toilet, shaving cabinet and hand shower.
Master Menders was tasked with the demolition of the existing bathroom, waterproofing, and reconstruction of a new layout with new materials. The new fixtures and fittings chosen enhanced the existing period features of the property, while introducing new technological advances in function and design. The fixtures and fittings, joinery, tiling and the timber wall panels were of the highest quality and carefully chosen. Updated electrical work, with power and lighting specific and to order, was required with the dazzling pendant light a highlight of the room.
The layout of this space utilises the abundance of natural light filling this room to create pockets of luxury and relaxation areas. Adding to the design intent of this ensuite, everything has been considered to accommodate for dual areas: separate sinks, mirrors and niches. The implementation of large-format tiles on the floor and walls minimises the grout lines, with black tapware adding to the minimalist aesthetic. This space can be transformed into complete privacy using total block-out roller blinds, or softened using sheer curtains, to allow for natural light to filter in, whilst still maintaining a level of privacy.
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