Bringer of New Life to the old.

This project is an upper floor addition build over the front of the existing home and it gives us the opportunity to give the home a serious uplift and a very new face.  We are going to transform the home from this tired 1980's style home 

to a graciously updated grand estate looking home.

Retirement self build in a Country town

This was an enjoyable project for retirees looking to self build on a now cleared lot of once an old framed country house caught in a large bush fire that devastated much of the town.  As sad is the story, as joyful is the rebirth of new life for the town and the property.

The lot falls away sharply from the road and overlooks the falling valley towards the main road with scattered surviving housing.  Maybe one day the large lot will be developed but for now it is small growth bush growing back after the fire and makes a lovely outlook for the rear facing living area and large balcony.
The front of the house facing the street will appear to be a single storey house.
The side of the house faces north and had a large open area within the lot for the creation of a garden space.

The side of the 

The owner had decided that Bondor panels were the go and he was wanting to build his house up at road level and infil underneath with a large open garage and workshop area and even parking for a caravan or other vehicles.  So the home was designed rather strictly to the standard width bondor panels and windows positioned to suit.  Even though the panels will disappear under a rendered finish, working to the panel system will make it easier for the client in construction.

Bondor panels can go the double storey but they do need some help in structural support for the suspended floor which is on a steel frame on posts, the posts disappearing into the panelling.

Bondor panels have a high insulation value and will be used for the walls and roof.
The walls will have an additional applied finish and painted.  The roof panels are left in their natural state with a colorbond finish.  There are no ceilings to be added. The roof panels are raking and will be seen underneath as a raking ceiling.
The ground floor for the garage/workshop level is a poured concrete slab. The overhead steal suspended floor joists will be all exposed but if the undercroft became more formal they could easily be lined underneath for a uniform ceiling finish.
The upper floor is Supafloor which is a thicker 53mm panel designed to deaden noise from shoes up above which is a bit of a problem with framed floors lined with structural flooring.  

Dream by the Beach pt 2

So after attempting to renovate the existing property involving both extensive demolition of the front living section and retention and reuse of the existing bedroom double storey wing at the rear, with the evolving client brief now made it obvious that working with the existing multiple levels on sand hill was not going to provide the best outcome and the brief changed to demolition of all house, retaining only the rear garage, and a brand new double storey build.

It was a fresh start and the ease to be able to have the freedom to do what was needed for the residence was very noticeable. No longer having to deal with what you have

So on we go to explore a new idea, to take advantage of the wide beach outlook from a wonderfully elevated position, to raise the front yard to create a larger open deck and ground area, to allow for gated access to the rear garage.

Here was my first attempt, which still contained strong elements of my earlier renovation project because the front was a demolish and rebuild anyway, the outlook, orientation was the same so roughly the same layout inside was still very relevant but it was a much cleaner and consistent package.

Let's see how it would look with a pitched roof, bit of a Hamptons approach.

Here the simple skillion idea allows for a roughly north (east) facing roof for a series of solar panels for power generation yet to be hidden from the street view.

We eventually decided upon dropping the lovely dramatic side skillion roof and just go with one overall large skillion roof to the rear and to raise the whole of the front yard up to a usable outdoor level and to include a blade wall that would shield the view to the south west to hide the not so aesthetic recent additions to the house next door and to shelter the exposed outdoor area along the front from the harsher southern heavier wind and rains.
Let's make the side access carport a bit more formal and secure.

Bringing the whole house to the one level and building it all square to itself does simplify the layout but we still have to contend with the steep changing levels of the sandhill.

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And so we wait, to see whether and where this project will progress to. It's been an exciting but tough journey for Grandesign because the site is has presented very challenging questions and the brief has had to change in big ways to adapt to the clients changing needs.