Penny and Hilary - Newham Vic

History:

The clients came to us with a 'difficult' site . . . mainly due to limited access and therefore understandable issues with the CFS, but also with waste management location, builder delivery roadwork issues and land use overlays that triggered special attention from the planners. 

Dale discussed the various issues with the authorities, and together they came up with a design that satisfied all concerned . . . which always takes time! 

Projects like this require patience and understanding from both clients and designers, but the end result and the view from the house will be worth the wait. 

Stefan and Emrys were keen to have some rammed earth walls incorporated into the design, so Dale introduced some non-load-bearing walls at the entry and lounge areas.

Project Outline: 

North East facing 1:4 slope 

Area of house -    205 sqM 

Area of courts  -      13 sqM 

Total floor area -  218 sqM

History:

Dale collaborated with the clients to design a house with an open-planned living area and a separate study at the front, and three bedrooms at the rear. There are two light/ventilation courts and the double garage is under the main earth sheltered roof. 

Peter's brief was that he wanted to do as much of the physical work as possible . . . and as an owner-builder, that's just what he did. 

He constructed the access road and dug the main site excavation himself with a backhoe type farm machine. Peter employed professional brickies and concretors to build the man structure; plumbers and electricians to installed the services systems, and then he assisted a carpenter to erect the internal timber stud walls and ceilings.. Then he and Francine finished off everything else: skirtings, architraves, flooring, tiling, painting kitchen, robes . . .etc etc. 

Peter's attention to detail can be seen in his amazing stonework - a feature of the front walls of the house. He hand-picked each stone during the site excavation and laid them individually over the concrete block front walls - the window quoins he rendered and painted to compliment the stonework.

The project design began in early 2017 and they have been working away diligently since then - this level of detail and physical input takes time . . .and it definitely shows.

If there was ever a 'labour of love' . . . this has to be it.

Project Outline:

North-West facing 1:4 slope.

Open-planned dining/kitchen with separate offoce.

Entry ember/air lock.  

Two light and ventilation courts.

PV power supply on adjacent garage/shed. 

Septic waste-management system. 

Two 22K litre rain water tanks. 

Full-length outdoor entertainment area with adjustable solar-pergola over.

Area of house -     161 sqM

Area of courts -       11sqM

Area of garage -      62sqM

Total floor area -   234 sqM

History:

Jane and Jason were looking for a modern house to accomodate their growing family with the parent's bedroom separated from the children's area to allow for their first-responders shift-work lifestyle. 

They had built a large implement shed on site to provide for drinking water collection and a suitable location for the solar panels. 

The site gradient is gentle and this allowed for an almost square floor plan.

The basic concept design was roughed-out via and phone and internet, and then Paul flew up to see the site and finalise the floor plan with Jane and Jason in person. 

The council planners fully appreciated the bushfire resistant qualities of the earth sheltered design and approved the Development Application without delay. 

Local structural engineers were engaged and drawings prepared by them and ShelterSpace for the Construction Certificate, which again was quickly approved.

Jane and Jason are owner-builders with the assistance of a qualified builder as project-manager. 

Project Outline:

North facing 1:25 slope

Master bedroom and flexible space for children's bedrooms/play room/study areas

Walk-through robe from master bedroom to en-suite bathroom

Open-planned dining/kitchen with separate formal lounge/tv area

Entry ember/air lock 

Four light and ventilation courts

Solar HWS and PV power supply on adjacent garage/shed

Septic waste-management system

Two 22K litre rain water tanks - connected to existing storage tank

Area of house -    234 sqM

Area of courts -       16 sqM

Total floor area -  250 sqM

History:

Heather and Mike are owner-builders who put their hearts and souls into their new ShelterSpace home . . . . I use the word home, because this is exactly what they have produced . . . a place to call home. Like most owner-builders, there are many things in the house that show their personal touches . . . and many hours of work.

In 2016 Paul flew up and stayed with Mike and Heather for a few days while the concept design was finalised and sketch plans prepared for client sign-off. The planning Application and Construction Certificate drawings were done back in Paul's studio in Adelaide and the Council approvals granted without fuss. 

During the design process Mike and Heather emphasised that the final design should allow for Mike's horticultural skills (and Heather's green fingers) to play a big part in the final form - with landscaping and roof garden to be a big part of the visual imagery. 

Project Outline:

North facing 1:5 slope

Vehicle access from below via ridge

Three bedrooms

Walk-in robe and en-suite to main bedroom

Open-planned lounge/dining/kitchen

Outdoor living area directly off lounge - with overhead protection

Three rear light and ventilation courts

Solar HWS and PV power supply (on shed nearby)

Septic waste-management system

Two 22K litre rain water tanks

2 car carport adjacent house

Area of house -    248sqM

History:

Don and Cheryl sadly lost their lovely home in the November 2019 bushfires in northern NSW.  ShelterSpace reacted quickly to their request for assistance, flew up to meet them, see their site and get things going as fast as possible. We met with the council planners, local structural engineers and certifiers who all went out of their way to help the project.

After receiving a very detailed brief from our clients, ShelterSpace developed a modern house design that fitted their budget, the site and their needs. 

Terry the selected builder made himself available during the visit which made later discussions far easier - putting a face to a name always helps.

On returning to Adelaide with the basic concept in place and a lot of additional information prioritised, the Planning Application drawings were produced in our studio and submitted to council for approval. This was received in only a few day (yes days!) and we were quickly into producing the working drawings for submission to the certifier and council for Construction Certificate . . . this only took a few weeks after submission.

It was gratifying to see how well the local authorities responded , how quickly they reacted to the difficulties people had found themselves in after the devastating bushfires.

Here's a link to the council's bushfire recovery videos - featuring Don and Cheryl's project.

https://www.midcoast.nsw.gov.au/Council/Emergencies-on-the-MidCoast/Recovery-from-bushfire-events

Project Outline:

North facing 1:4 slope

Minimal vegetation within 50 metres of house site

Vehicle access from below via ridge

Two bedrooms

Walk-in robe to main bedroom

Open-planned lounge/dining/kitchen

Kitchen at rear with view-line through dining/lounge to view

Outdoor living area directly off lounge - with overhead protection

main bathroom serving as en-suite to main bedroom

Three car garage

Entry ember/air lock from garage and porch

Two rear light and ventilation courts

Solar HWS and PV power supply

Septic waste-management system

Two 22K litre rain water tanks - connected to existing storage tank

Area of house -    127 sqM

Area of courts -       7 sqM

Area of garages -  92 sqM

Total floor area -  226 sqM