Design workshop Archives

Design workshop: Slow transformation

How can this much-loved workhorse of a farmhouse best be upgraded to provide more comfortable living?

Design workshop: Modular mountain magic

A house designed around a series of modular units seems like a great solution for this holiday home in Victoria’s alpine region.

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Design workshop: A private sanctuary for retirement

After a busy farming life, Karin and Bruce Glen are looking forward to moving into town, downsizing, and having more time for gardening, entertaining friends and travel.

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Design workshop: Passive solar strawbale

Leaving their busy city lives behind them, Lisa and Shawn are planning an energy-efficient strawbale home and productive permaculture garden on their newly purchased block in the Blue Mountains.

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Design workshop: A beach shack transformed

When deciding whether or not to demolish their fibro beach shack, Lucien Hoare and Jess Davis chose to keep as much of their new home’s old-school charm as possible.

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Design workshop: Blank slate

Geoff and Lindsay are planning a tree change; they’re seeking a new, modest house for retirement close to the centre of Woodend, in Victoria’s Macedon Ranges, and luckily they’ve found the perfect block.

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Design workshop: Unique block

Jared and Kylie Barnes bought an unusually shaped, but well-priced block of land in the Adelaide suburb of Campbelltown with the aim of building a low-cost and low-impact home for their family of six.

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Design workshop: Space to play

With three growing children, Nadya and Robert’s family is bursting out of its two-bedroom Edwardian cottage in Melbourne’s inner west. Tim Ellis of Glow Building Design offers suggestions for more space and less environmental impact.

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Design workshop: A family home to last

Melbourne residents Tamara and Aidan are looking to give their Fairfield home a more functional layout, make it more comfortable year-round, better suit their lifestyle and allow them to stay there for the long-term.

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Design Workshop: A home with a view

Emma and Kim Friedman have built a sustainable house in their hometown of North Beach Perth, once before, but were met with strong “resistance to anything against the norm”. They are now trying again with renewed enthusiasm and commitment, this time on their neighbouring block.

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Design Workshop: Eco retreat meets design reality

Rob Norman from design firm Symbiosphere unpacks the design challenges faced by a couple planning to build an eco retreat in Queensland’s Gold Coast hinterland.

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