At Home With Shelley Crafty

Shelley Craft is one of Australia's most loved television presenters. Her experience on numerous Australian lifestyle TV shows, such as The Block and Domestic Blitz, has given her a designer's eye to create a stunning new home.

Shelley and her husband Chris worked with Architect Paul Uhlmann to design the quintessential industrial beach house meets Italian villa. Situated on the site of the old whaling station in Belongil Beach NSW, the criteria for the build were the freedom of design and movement, connection to the outdoors, ventilation and protection from the elements.

‘When I’m building for my home, it’s all about quality, longevity, and timelessness. Building by the beach has another set of challenges and that comes down to the durability of the product’, said Shelley.

Choosing SGA Architectural Window Solutions to manufacture and supply the custom windows and doors was a nobrainer for Shelley. Having worked with them previously, Shelley trusted the quality of the Vantage® Windows & Doors and Elevate™ Aluminium Systems product ranges.

One of the quirky design features of this home, is that it is broken up into pods, with a brick spine through the back of the kitchen and onto the bedrooms. Above that is the asymmetrical roofline, which creates an expansive void. To create a cross flow of natural light and air, SGA Architectural Window Solutions recommended incorporating automated louvres above the brick spine. This worked a treat.

‘When you’re designing a home, you really have to think about how you’re going to move about, you want to it be easy and flow naturally.’

To meet the criteria for freedom of design and movement the Series 704B SlideMaster™ Sliding Door was selected.

‘The doors we have here really open the whole house up, left to right, backwards and sidewards, meaning you can move anywhere that you like’, says Shelley. ‘In the morning I crank all the doors open, so everyone can come and go as they please. We’ve also got this amazing seamless threshold finish, so there’s not even a slight step or tripping hazard as you move from inside to out.’

‘The beautiful thing about SGA Architectural Window Solutions and the Vantage® and Elevate™ product ranges is that nothing was too hard. We wanted customised window options, including a glass wall that pointed out to the reserve. That was always going to be a challenge because of the asymmetrical roofline, but I’m glad to say SGA Architectural nailed it’, declared Shelley.

Ensuring longevity and durability for her windows and doors, Shelley stated ‘we went with the MIRO™ range due to it’s amazing Enduratec™ finish, which is 10 times more corrosion-resistant than any standard finish and it’s great for living on the coast.’

‘I’ve put my heart and soul into this home and it’s the perfect home — for now.’

Vantage® Windows & Doors and Elevate™ Aluminium Systems are Australian designed, made and tested to exceed Australian Standards by Architectural Window Systems (AWS), supplied by over 200 independent fabricators nationwide.

Fabricator: SGA Architectural Window Solutions

Architect: Paul Uhlmann

Builder: Ben Quinlan of Marloane Building Co

Products: Series 704B SlideMaster™ Sliding Door

Series 400 Single Glazed CentreGLAZE™ 102 mm Framing

Miro Hardware

Samantha Anderson,  National Marketing Manager AWS