From the yearly archives:

2010

Want to build in early 2011? Remember these important dates…

14 September 2010
Thumbnail image for Want to build in early 2011? Remember these important dates…

If you would like to start building your project in early 2011, your window of opportunity is closing rapidly.
Can your project make an early 2011 build start date?
Here are some important dates that you should keep in mind.

Read the full article →

Public Open Space: When developing two units may be better than three…

31 August 2010
Thumbnail image for Public Open Space: When developing two units may be better than three…

Every now and again, we assess a potential development site as being equally suitable to be subdivided into 2 large dwellings or 3 small dwellings.
All things being equal, a three unit development should be more profitable than two.
Unfortunately, not all things are equal…

Read the full article →

Restrictive Covenant: Is your development over before it even begins?

24 August 2010
Thumbnail image for Restrictive Covenant: Is your development over before it even begins?

We love what we do – but there’s one task we don’t look forward to: informing a client that their very impressive large block cannot developed.
There are many factors that might add constraints to a development, but there’s one factor that stops a development dead in its tracks – before it even begins.
And unfortunately, this [...]

Read the full article →

Front landscaping: How to disguise a steep slope

17 August 2010
Thumbnail image for Front landscaping: How to disguise a steep slope

Those with a keen eye might have noticed that our Surrey Hills HIA Award Winning property as featured last week in the Melbourne Weekly has since had a landscaping makeover.
Not long after the home was completed, the owners presented us with the next challenge:
How can they landscape the front garden of their home while gracefully [...]

Read the full article →

Designing the Future: Melbourne Weekly Cover Story (Downloadable PDF)

11 August 2010
Thumbnail image for Designing the Future: Melbourne Weekly Cover Story (Downloadable PDF)

Above: The Koedyk kids enjoy more than their 5 minutes of fame on the deck of our HIA Award Winning renovation – featured as the Cover Story in Melbourne Weekly and on the giant billboard of The Age building on Spencer Street.
In this week’s edition of ‘Melbourne Weekly’ magazine, Linley Wilkie interviewed our Designer and [...]

Read the full article →

Energy efficient house design: how much is each energy star really worth? (Free downloadable PDF)

3 August 2010
Thumbnail image for Energy efficient house design: how much is each energy star really worth? (Free downloadable PDF)

At the recent State of Design Festival, we prepared a number of home energy cost calculators that helped festival attendees answer the question:
“How much is each additional energy star really worth?”

In this post, we’ll compare the energy cost savings for the same house finished to different energy star ratings.

Read the full article →

Pixel Building Melbourne: 5 architectural lessons to apply to your new home

27 July 2010
Thumbnail image for Pixel Building Melbourne: 5 architectural lessons to apply to your new home

Welcome – you’ve just discovered one of our most popular posts!
If you got here because you are researching Sustainable Architecture for your property, you may also be interested in these articles:

Introduction to a 7 part series called ‘The 7 Pillars of Sustainable Architecture’
Does Sustainable Architecture pay off?

Alternatively, if you are ready to start the [...]

Read the full article →

State of Design 2010: Door Prize winner + your Top 5 questions answered

20 July 2010
Thumbnail image for State of Design 2010: Door Prize winner + your Top 5 questions answered

6500+ visitors, 23 workshops and 4 days later – its hard to believe that the State of Design Festival is behind us!
Thank you to everyone who stopped by and said hello – we loved that you felt just as passionately as we did about environmentally sustainable Design + Build!
In this post:

We announce the winner of [...]

Read the full article →

Sustainable Housing by Design: The Lunchtime Sessions

20 July 2010
Thumbnail image for Sustainable Housing by Design: The Lunchtime Sessions

Over the course of the State of Design Festival 2010 we had more demand for our Sustainable Housing by Design workshops than we had places available.
As a result we will continue to hold a limited number of extra workshops over special, lunchtime sessions until the end of July!

Read the full article →

Does sustainable architecture pay off?

14 July 2010
Thumbnail image for Does sustainable architecture pay off?

Australians no longer need to be convinced of the merits of sustainability for environmental reasons.
But how much value does Sustainable Architecture actually add to our house price?
Fortunately, a little known experiment that commenced over ten years ago in the ACT, can help us answer the question:
“Does Sustainable Architecture pay off?”

Read the full article →