Hill St, Carrington

A project both designed and built by Buildsmart Constructions, we are thrilled that this custom built home was the winner of the 2018 HIA-CSR Hunter Housing and Kitchen & Bathroom Awards in the following categories:

• Custom Built Home > $500,001 to $600,000
• GreenSmart Sustainable Home
• Residential Building Designer

This two-storey family home with separate office achieves a surprising amount of living space on its 10.5 by 25.5 metre, flood-zoned block in Carrington. The home achieves:

• maximising solar passive design principles to indoor and outdoor living areas
• a thermally efficient building envelope
• incorporating solar and battery storage and aiming for a net zero energy building
• maximising privacy from close-quartered neighbours
• incorporating as much recycled and low environmental impact materials as possible
• ensuring a sufficiently sized and smartly designed garage to enable storage of a large amount of the owner’s business equipment, and
• ensuring all habitable areas were 1 metre above the ground level to comply with flood zoning requirements

Clarence Road

This project entailed a large, modern two storey addition behind the existing cottage front. The cottage was completely renovated and all finishes and fittings were high quality.

Swan St, The Hill

This project involved lifting the existing house 1 metre using specialised equipment, and building a new living level underneath. It was important to the clients that from the street front, the house retained its original Victorian cottage charm. However, the new lower level addition and the upper level renovations have a modern, industrial-chic aesthetic

The lower level includes a new kitchen complete with butler’s pantry and a cast-in-situ concrete bench, finished by the hands-on client, powder room, laundry, living area and separate activity room behind the stairs. The upper level has three newly lined and painted bedrooms, 2 bathrooms and an office.