One thing we pride ourselves on in the office is our attention to clarity and detail in our documentation, alongside the careful consideration of council controls, context and BCA requirements. Although a more modest alterations and additions project, we feel the above has played a pivotal role in the very quick turnaround for DA consent in the Inner West Council for our Petersham residence. The project is now approved in under 7 weeks since lodgement and we couldn't be happier for our clients.
Introducing Crookwell
It’s not every day a Greenfield site comes across my desk, working in the dense urban context of Sydney’s inner city, so I’ve been excited by this new commission in Crookwell - located in the upper Lachlan region of New South Wales.
In concept design, we are working with a local builder and trades to confirm early budgeting and feasibility on the project, and look forward to progressing work on a complying development application in the new year.
Introducing Daceyville
I’m proud to share a new project in the studio - alterations and additions to an existing semi-detached dwelling in Sydneys southern suburb of Daceyville. This substantial addition includes a new two storey addition at the rear of the home, plunge pool and rear garden studio.
The works have been designed for a complying development certificate (CDC) pathway, so I look forward to jumping into documentation on this project in the new year.
Clovelly DA Approved
We are thrilled for our clients this week after gaining approvals for our Clovelly residence through Randwick City Council. We are proud to have delivered a great outcome for our clients, with minimal pushback from council, testament to a design that is sensitive to the surrounding context while increases the liveability and amenity of the existing dwelling.
Existing and proposed images below:
Bondi Beach Apartment starts construction
I’m thrilled to see our Bondi Beach apartment project start on site this week, thanks to the team at Reed Developments who we glad to be working with again. The project involves substantial refurbishment to a top floor apartment, including new glazing, finishes, electrical, joinery and bathroom fit out. I’ve skillfully managed approvals through a CDC pathway, including a very complex Class 2 regulated design approval. I look forward to seeing the project completed early in the new year.
Petersham Residence DA Submitted
We’ve recently submitted to the Inner West Council a development application for modest alterations and additions to an existing semi-detached dwelling in Petersham.
The clients approached us with a number of challenges - a poorly planned rear living space with little connection to the rear garden, which had a lack of light, ventilation and outlook, and a cramped rear entertaining space which needed re-thinking. Our design used a light touch approach, maintaining the existing kitchen and laundry which were in good condition, and inserting a new living and dining space between this and the existing home. We proposed large sliding doors and high level glazing to offer better connection to the rear yard and increased light and outlook to this space. A new family bathroom with skylight is placed between this space and the existing bedrooms, and a mud-room adjacent provides side access to the dwelling.
Erskineville Residence reaches lockup
Another great milestone reached on our Erskineville residence project this week, with lockup achieved on site thanks to the team at Frontier Projects. Recent dryer weather has provided great building conditions, with the project now ahead of schedule.
We’ve worked extensively with Frontier to ensure the double glazed windows and skylights are meticulously installed to provide acoustic and thermal performance for the home. We look forward to seeing rough-in completed over the next month, ready for finishes to start being installed prior to Christmas.
Clovelly Residence DA Lodged
We are pleased to have submitted our proposal to Randwick Council for our Clovelly Residence project. This project involved the careful replanning of an existing thee storey semi-detached dwelling to provide for a new parents master retreat, which captures expansive views to Clovelly beach and the ocean beyond. Careful consideration was given to the existing roof form, to ensure minimal existing built fabric was disturbed. Dormer window additions at front and rear visually reduce the scale of the proposal while providing light and ventilation to new interior spaces.
Tesla Powerwall 3 launched
I was excited to be invited to the launch of the Tesla Powerwall 3 home battery storage system in Sydney recently. This upgrade to the current Powerwall 2 product brings with it a variety of new features which enhance performance, increase durability, make installation easier and reduces packaging waste - to make what Tesla calls “the best value home battery solution on the market”. Without testing the unit personally to confirm these claims it’s hard to confirm or deny, however on paper the unit does look impressive.
While the physical size and battery storage capacity remains the same as the Powerwall 2 at 13.5kwh, the main performance upgrade the Powerwall 3 gets is an integrated solar inverter which increases the solar to grid efficiency to 97.5% (as opposed to 87% of a typical external inverter - I was told by staff). This means the unit can support up to 20kw of solar power input (roughly 50 x 400w panels)
The Powerwall 3 supports 3 solar inputs and can deliver up to 10kw of power on backup power, up from the 7kw of the previous unit. The battery is also scaleable up to 4 units, and coming in 2025 a system expansion feature will be launched, allowing further capacity.
Tesla claim that with current energy market prices the Powerwall 3, when coupled with a solar PV can deliver savings of 77% over 10 years. Given the fluctuation in energy prices seen in recent times now that renewables are powering 39.4% of the Australian grid (Clean Energy Council figures) Tesla are spruiking the benefits of the product as a standalone installation without solar. Being able to draw energy from the grid at times of low cost (middle of the day on sunny/windy days), then using this at night time when demand is high is reported to reduce a yearly energy bill by more than half.
The new unit is IP67 rated and can operate in temperatures from -20 > +50º C, we don’t recommend installing in water features like the above image, however we’re impressed by the overall durability of the unit. The Powerwall 3 also features battery pre-conditioning technology, which will anticipate when power from the sun will be available, and pre-heats or cools the battery cells to ensure optimum conditions for charging.
Great work Tesla, I’m looking forward to seeing one of these units go into one of my projects soon…
Camperdown Residence Approved
Thrilled this week to receive approval for our Camperdown residence project in the Inner West Council. The scheme proposed a new rear laneway crossover and parking space, first floor additions and an attic conversion with rear facing dormer window. This provides much needed space for a growing young family, in close proximity to parks and schools in the thriving King Street precinct.
Bondi Beach Apartment Tender Issued
We’ve reached a milestone this week on our Bondi Beach apartment project, with tender documentation heading out to selected builders. This exciting project sees the existing apartment completely re-envisaged, with new kitchen, bathroom, laundry, robe joinery, lighting, electrical and finishes thoughout.
Our main challenge involved the demolition of some internal structure to create a new open plan living, kitchen and dining space, while maintaining a functional layout for dining and lounge areas. Privacy issues were address to neighbouring buildings by modifying some openings, while a large pass-through window to the kitchen helps activate the large outdoor terrace dining area for summer afternoon bbq’s.
Coogee Residence approved
We’re thrilled to announce our Coogee residence gained DA approval this week in Randwick Council. The scheme includes a new third storey addition and rear garage studio to provide for the needs of a growing young family.
Erskineville Residence construction starts
We are thrilled this week to see our Erskineville residence commence construction. The team from Frontier Projects, who also built our Darlington Residence, are well through demolition, as always uncovering some interesting existing conditions. This is always the challenge dealing with terrace homes with shared party walls, layers of existing construction hidden under floors and behind walls, rising damp and poor termite protection.
We are looking forward to sharing further progress on this exciting new project as works progress.
Rosebery Residence featured in Habitus Living
We’re thrilled to share that our Rosebery Residence has been featured this week by Habitus Living. Read the full story here.
Woollhara DA Approved
We are thrilled to see our Woollahra project approved at the Local planning panel meeting this week. This contemporary new additional sits harmoniously in its heritage context and provides a much needed upgrade to the existing dwelling.
Rear Garden View
Street Photomontage
Coogee DA Lodged
We are pleased to see our Coogee Terrace project lodged with Randwick City Council this week. The project involves a new rear garage studio addition to provide much needed extra accomodation for visiting relatives, and a new third storey master bedroom suite to the main dwelling. The scheme respectfully considers the existing building form and offers a clean new coastal palette to the home.
Erskineville DA Approved
Another win in council this month with our Erskineville terrace project approved in the City of Sydney. We managed a great outcome for our clients with 2 additional bedrooms and bathroom located in a new second storey addition.
Surry Hills DA Approved
We’re thrilled to announce that our Surry Hills terrace project has been approved by the City of Sydney. The scheme includes a new attic conversion to create an additional bedroom with front and rear dormers, and a new kitchen, laundry and bathroom at ground level. we look forward to beginning construction documentation on this wonderful project.
Surry Hills DA Lodged
To round out a busy month we have just submitted our Surry Hills Terrace project to the City of Sydney for development approval (DA). Our clients came to us with a clear brief in two parts for this home - utilise the existing attic space for an additional bedroom or home office, and modernise the existing kitchen and garden at rear to take advantage of the north facing lot.
Our design approach took cues from the clients existing internal works and overlaid a contemporary design language in the new kitchen addition. A new skylight over the kitchen brings an abundance of light deep into the home, while a new rear shroud provides as much winter sun into the new kitchen. Retractable sliding doors open up the new kitchen to a courtyard garden.
Erskineville DA Lodged
We’re happy to announce DA lodgement of our Erskineville project. The existing home is a single storey terrace row dwelling with south facing rear yard. Our clients required additional space for a master bedroom and home study, which meant a second storey addition. We carefully reviewed the scale of the new addition to mitigate overshadowing to neighbours and the existing rear yard, and instead of costly glazed roofs we developed the concept of a brickwork screen at the rear of the dwelling that reflects northern light back into the living spaces, while visually screening overlooking neighbours to the rear.
