Well 2013 is well and truly upon us and the beginning of the year looks exciting.

Towards the end of last year we were working on some interesting projects in some equally interesting parts of the country.

 Mount Isa

Firstly is a 3 x 3 Bedroom Townhouse development in Mount Isa. Located in remote North western Queensland this project had some intersting challemes attached to it.

1. A small building  envelope
2. Corner allotment
3. one of the worlds largest copper and zinz mines within 1km of the site
4. Climate challenges  with Mount Isa being a hot / arid climate

Our brief was to produce an  “up market” residential precint that would appeal to professionals, mine managers and their families.  With a lack of  Executive syle accomodation in Mount Isa we felt that this would provide  a  higher standard of  livability close to the  Town Centre.

Seventh Avenue Mount Isa

   Despite  some rather contensious issues  regarding the  size and  yield of the site the application has beenaccepted favourably and we’re expecting  approval to proceed  in the next couple of weeks.

Port Hedland

As far west as we’ve ever worked to date. Port Hedland is located in the North West of Western Australia. A hub of the iron ore and bauxite mining industry. A severe lack of accommodation  to support the influx of  workers has  made Port Hedland a vibrant  development “hot spot”.

We were commissioned to Design and  prepare a Planning Application for   stage 2 of a 1 and 2 bedroom unit complex………easy enough one would think..Wrong!!!

Since stage one being constructed the Planning Scheme had been changed and  severely restricted what was achievable. For example  there were to be no openable  windows or doors  on the  northern or western facades…………Yet stage one was facing north. With some quick and innovative  design and lateral thinking  we provided  an air lock system to prevent  dust from the nearby monies to entering the  units. As this was the intention of the changes to the scheme.

Morgans Street Port Hedland

 The project has been recommended for Approval and we are  waiting for the decision notice to be issued.

Nebo

Back closer to home in the Bowen Basin coalfield region is Nebo in central Queensland  Nebo is a small town about 100 kms west of Mackay and is fast growing int a service hub for the coal mining industry.

Once again the “mining boom” has caused a shortage of accommodation for  the workers required to operate these massive mining operations.

Our client had has asked us to assist in gaining a Planning Approval and assist in gaining a Building Approval.  The project has  now been granted a Development Permit and we’re now proceeding with the  construction drawings  for  a construction.

Mary Street Nebo

Challenges with this project were  very stringent requirements for  a  “livable” type of  accommodation. Many smaller towns from on the  “fly in – fly out”  accommodation types or “dongas”  with their argument being that the  occupant don’t contribute to the local economy. Working long shifts they  only eat and sleep in these quarters. While there  must be a balance of accommodation types we’re confident that we’ve delivered a vibrant and  modern design that will enhance the  community.

more unique and successful projects coming soon

Sustainable …..what does it actually mean?

• saving whales
• recycling
• rainforests
• green house gas emissions
• carbon taxes

This is the common percetion (mis conception) of sustainable design.  A lot of marketing has gone into the  promotion of the  “eco / green”  facet of sustainability. It a bit like the 99% fat free ice cream that we buy……..But it’s full of sugar that makes us fat!!!

Sustainability  has three aspects to it:

1. Ecological sustainability….. be sensitve to the environment and have the smalles carbon footprint possible. Be energy efficient with good  passive solar design principal applied.
2. Social Sustainability…………. be fit for the purpose it is designed for. Australia now has the largest homes in the world being built. Do we really need  2 living areas, a media room and a study??
3. Economic Sustainability……be  affordable. With construction costs soaring excessive “space” is a waste of money when efficient design can reduce unwanted space.

One of the most common comments I hear from clients is “I’ve drawn up what I want but its not very good.”  So we  often encourage out clients to simply write down what they want.  What their dream home is going to look like and how they want to live in the future. (I’m a firm believer of letting the experts do what they do best and not try to do their job)

The next common saying I hear is “Wow!!  I would never of thought of that !!!

When all of the above principals are taken into account and  are implimented into the design of a  home or building, and of course the  flexability to obtain comparitive  prices from a number of builders, the  investment  in a custom design can be far outweiged by the  savings. Not only in construction but for the life of the building.

For example my electricity  bill is  around $1500 per year less than my neighbour.  His air conditioner runs  regularly to heat and cool his home.  I simply open different windows and doors depending on the prevailing breezes.

After 7 years? !!  ……well you do the numbers

Standard Plans  are a wonderful way to spend a few leisurely hours looking at all the wonderful  new innovations. But are they alwyas exactly what you want?  While  display homes and  standard  home designs  can give you a good idea of what you want they very rarely tick all the boxes. Many of the comments we hear are;

• The kitchen is too small
• Not enough storage
• Laundry is too small
• There’s a dunny facing the living room!!!
• or I would change this or that…

The Answer is simple.

Spending a little time talking to a  professional designer to make a wish list of all those things you require in your home is a fun experience and often a lot of great ideas come out of a design brief session.  Sometimes your designer throws ideas at you that you would never have dreamed of.

But doesn’t is cost a lot??

Well it depends on how you want to look at it.

A properly designed home can cut down on lighting and cooling costs to an extent that the “investment” would be recovered in a very short time.  Expert design  can remove  wasted or  excess space…………..”floor and roof  is a very expensive  non essential item”

But  The Display Home has a fixed price!! 

The biggest cost saving a professional designer can offer is  flexibility and transparency by putting YOU in control.

By engaging a  building company to prepare your design you are  constrained to  that company and their pricing structure. Due to copyright restrictions it’s impossible for you to get comparable prices for the same  home.

By engaging  your designer to prepare YOUR design you are free to get comparative prices from a variety of construction companies. This is exactly why large companies and  consultants offer TENDERS to enable competitive prices to come in. When  offering a project for tender it is most important that the potential contractors are all comparing the same  end product.

Should I simply go for the cheapest price??

We often see and hear advertisements for new homes based of  $$$$ per sq/m  this is often used as a way of  comparing a company’s  “value for money”.  Well this isn’t entirely correct………..

• A smaller home is ALWAYS more expensive per sq/m as there is still  bathrooms, kitchen etc
• Roof design can increase the price substantially
• Elevated floor is always more expensive.
• Gold taps and expensive fittings have an effect on the build cost (surprisingly many consumers don’t relate these)
• Non standard windows and doors can easily blow a budget.

 

Ultimately  some things in life remain constant and  “you get what you pay for” is one of those. Saving time and money on getting your design stage right usually doesn’t  !!!

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