01 What’s Up

Member Focus: Marcus Betts, bettswhite Home Design, NSW

This 1910s semi-attached Federation dwelling in Mosman was a tiny 2-bedroom single story home. The owners required more space to accommodate their growing family and wanted to add value to their investment.

Prior to engaging us, the clients had lodged a Development Application (DA) with Mosman Council and once the notification period had lapsed there were 11 objections for many different reasons. The property nears a corner with six neighbouring lots backing onto it resulting in Council refusing the application and the owners making the decision to ‘park the idea’.

A year later, I was working with the owner’s brother on another project, and he recommended I speak with his brother to look at the possibility of applying for a Complying Development Certificate (CDC) to reignite the project.

The brief was to add a second story addition that was hidden from the street and included 2 bedrooms and a bathroom. To ensure a CDC application complies on a semi-attached dwelling can be tricky, in particular in regards to correct heights and side boundary setback controls. We were lucky in this case because the neighbouring semi-attached had an existing second story addition allowing us to match the heights without increasing or changing the existing party wall.

In the early concept stage, I arranged a site inspection with the certifier and engineer to confirm the design complied with the controls and, that it could actually be built. Once we got ‘the all clear’ from the experts, we prepared and lodged the CDC application with the private certifier and within three weeks the owners had the approval to start building.

Because the heights were so low and tight we designed cathedral ceilings throughout with skylights to create a spacious light filled addition for which the owners were proud.

Their testimonial speaks for itself: “We had been toying with the idea of renovating our semi-detached and had spoken with and engaged previous architects and designers over the years. However, we just couldn’t seem to get what we wanted, and our dreams faded until we met Marcus. There were a couple of things that separated Marcus from the rest.

Firstly he was able to create a floorplan that worked seamlessly with our existing residence, utilising every square inch within the controls. Secondly, he was able to obtain the approvals via a Complying Development therefore allowing us to bypass the council’s DA process.

Marcus was able take our specific requirements and design a wonderful livable space that increased our internal footprint by approximately 60%, providing enormous natural light and space with high cathedral ceilings. We are extremely happy with the design and appreciate that Marcus finally made our vision come to fruition.

Throughout the process, Marcus was a pleasure to work with and we will definitely seek to engage Marcus’s creative talent again if the need arises in the future.”

- Chris and Vikki, Mosman

Marcus Betts has helped hundreds of families design and build their homes over the past 18 years. If you’re in Sydney or the Central Coast and want to explore what is possible with your home or if you’re a student and looking for some guidance or mentoring please reach out to Marcus at marcus@bettswhite.com.