14 minute read
HOUSE
A Dream Home
A dream house story from a dream collaboration between Project Now’s Luke Jennings and CIQ Construction’s Owner/Builder Adrian Matherson
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Photography by Heath Worsley - H Studios
Location:
Adrian: Between Wendouree Parade and Sturt Street, which is close to the colleges in that precinct as well as to Lake Wendouree. Please share with us a little about your role on this project
Adrian: I was the client and the builder. I’m a registered commercial and domestic builder and run my own construction company. Although this house is our family home, I also wanted to use it to showcase what we can do for future clients.
Luke: Project Now was engaged by a client, also a local builder, after it was found that we had designed and completed two other equally challenging outcomes on sites within the same street. We were entrusted to design the family home to meet a specific client-driven brief. Pretty quickly it was understood that the design brief and the client’s desire of a family home could not be accommodated on one single level and a second storey would be required.
Project Now also assisted with preparing the full concept plans and project visualisations through to the town planning application and the detailed construction drawings. What colours/fittings/furnishings have been selected for the interior of this home?
Adrian: We have gone for a modern look; we have used American oak timber on the exterior cladding and followed that material internally on the stairs and the featured balustrading. We have also used stone tops and copper tapware. My sister, Victoria Matherson from Matherson Designs, is an interior designer and came up with the colour themes and selections for the house. Luke: Project Now has developed the exterior form, look and materiality of the project in accordance with Council’s planning requirements. It’s great when we as the designers have the faith and trust in our clients to deliver an interior finish that is equally as impressive as the exterior form.
How would you best describe the design of this home? Luke: The feature that stands out for this project is that it doesn’t stand out! A key to this is the use of stained timber cladding, which resembles the colours from many of the surrounding homes and their face brick palette. The use of the natural material also gives an air of quality and warmth. The dark stain used further allows the project to rest into the surrounds, belonging to its context. Materiality, siting and carefully organised fenestration combine to provide a dwelling that nestles comfortably in its setting. Adrian: We were definitely aiming for a modern contemporary feel for the home.
Where did you source the inspiration for this design? Luke: The client came to us with the understanding that Project Now has the skillset and experience in delivering sophisticated contemporary design outcomes for a range of unique and challenging sites, and that was a style they wanted to achieve. Beyond that, the site itself, along with the layout, is what went on to inform and inspire the exterior form. Adrian: The guys at Project Now excelled in this department. I knew what I was after, and they took my brief and exceeded my expectations.
What is your favourite feature of the house and why? Adrian: I love the outside look – the combination of the materials we have used have worked really well together. The sunken garage is also a great feature and has been instrumental in providing an uncompromised living experience on a small block of land.
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What was the best thing about collaborating on this project together? Luke: Designing a house allows an ease of combination and a level of professional trust and respect that can often only come with time. The fact we had worked together on many projects prior to this one ensured we had built that trust and went into the process knowing each other’s strengths and that we had a level of expectation of what the end result could be. Adrian: I think the results speak for themselves and exemplify what happens when architects and builders work well collaboratively.
What was your biggest challenge on this build and how did you overcome it? Adrian: Probably the sunken garage and the section that is on the boundary. There was an existing property next door, which had also been built on the boundary, which meant we had to carry out extensive structural works to protect the neighbouring property before we could safely excavate. Access was also challenging given that we only had access via the narrow front part of the block. We therefore had to co-ordinate works a little differently to accommodate the restricted access. An example of this was to install the swimming pool first before starting to build the house. Luke: Clearly the size of the block and narrow frontage created a problem to fit the required house on the site and that was overcome with the sunken garage, which allowed a double-up of the usable site area. Your top tip to people building their first home? Luke: A first home … maybe start with something less complicated! Maybe don’t write that!
For someone who is looking for a personalised or customised home, a client needs to surround themselves with the right people – from the designers to the builders –, who are willing to help them explore and challenge their thoughts to put ideas and new directions out there to ensure that the best possible outcome is achieved. Adrian: Do your research, ask lots of questions, and get good advice. How do we get in touch?
Luke: Project Now is available for obligation-free consultations via appointment at our centrally located office at 214 Mair Street. Feel free to call the office to arrange a meeting on 5332 3397 or email the company director, Luke Jennings, at lukejennings@projectnow.net.au. Adrian: CIQ Construction can be contacted by phone on 0418 524013 or email Adrian at adrian@ciqconstruction.com.au
• Construction management • Project management • Commercial construction • Residential construction
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I am not a big reader of literature, in fact I don’t enjoy reading books at all. I have a brain that wanders, and I struggle to stay focused on the pages in front of me. I have read a total of 10 books in my life, only two of which I can recall clearly. The first, Chopper from the inside by the infamous Mark Brandon ‘Chopper’ Read, and the second ‘Differentiate or Die’ by Jack Trout. Whilst the mystery of Chopper Read has captivated a nation since he ruled the dark and seedy streets of Melbourne in the late 80s & 90s, his story is certainly not one that should provide the motivation for those looking to succeed in business; Jack Trout however, is a man that we should all look to for advice. What factors allow a company or product to stand out in an increasingly competitive (and global) marketplace? That’s a question Jack Trout has been answering for 30 years as a consultant to Fortune 500 companies. It is a question that he uses in Differentiate or Die to help readers create solid strategies to place themselves and their companies above the crowds of competitors and generate the business required to stay there.
Differentiating products today is more challenging than at any other time in history. When our earliest ancestors wondered, “What’s for dinner?” the answer was clear: It was whatever the neighbourhood could run down, kill and bring back to the cave. There was no question of “red meat or white meat?” There was only one choice; it was a simpler time. These days, the average supermarket stocks 40,000 brand items — or standard stocking units (SKUs) — an explosion of choice in just about every product category. That number is a mere fraction of the estimated one million SKUs available in America. The most interesting thing though, is that the average family gets 80 to 85 percent of its needs from only 150 SKUs, which means there’s a good chance the other 39,850 items in the store will be mostly ignored. What drives choice is the law of division, which states that a category starts off as a single entity then breaks up into other segments. Computers, for instance, once were their own category; over time, however, this category segmented into mainframes, microcomputers, PCs, laptops, notebooks and so forth. Television programming once meant network television programming; now it, too, is broken into segments — free to air, cable, satellite, public, and now computer based “streaming” video such as Stan and Netflix. And this explosion of choice has led to an entire industry dedicated to helping people with their choices, whether it be a guide to Melbourne restaurants or advice on which hotel to stay at. The World Wide Web has expanded this industry past long-accepted structures and strictures, handing out advice on command and fulfilling needs — any need — instantly. With so much competition, markets today are driven by choice; customers have so many choices that it can seem that companies who don’t address every whim of the marketplace will lose business and will not survive.
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EXPLORE THE GOLDFIELDS REGION
Engaging with the Food Industry from Paddock to Plate
Words by Ballarat Tech School.
Experiencing the breadth of our local food industry responds on many STEM (science, technology, engineering and maths) levels and encourages critical and creative thinking. The Victorian government reports that “Victoria currently accounts for approximately one-quarter of Australia’s value of agriculture and food product exports. The state produces a diverse range of produce including meat, grains, fruit and vegetables, and dairy products”. When you consider this statement on a regional level, we are expecting to see an increase in jobs related to the food industry and the diversity of offerings that sit across agriculture, food production, tourism, hospitality, product exportation and quality food experiences. In May, Plate Up Ballarat month events connect the community to vibrant, innovative and engaged local industries as they showcase the region’s local growers, producers, venues and produce.
Discovering the best of Ballarat is essential to what we do at the Ballarat Tech School (BTS) because when we share with young people the opportunities of the region, they see the possibility of who they can be within it. Our learning programs benefit from a passionate exchange of ideas, knowledge and expertise with local producers and innovators. Industry partners who enrich our program offering include Mitchell Harris Wine, Saltbush Kitchen and Munash Organics.
This year we trialled a three-day wine industry program with Mitchell Harris Wines that focused on viticulture; the cultivation and harvesting of grapes, wine science and sensory analysis. Students visited the Blue Pyrenees vineyard and explored the technology behind wine production. They focused on soil types and soil health and how this can affect the yield, taste and sustainability of grapevine plants. Students were exposed to the winemaking process – from the vineyard to crushing, fermentation and filtering. The impact of the program was in John Harris’s ability to take industry knowledge and connect the learnings to what the students were experiencing. With the pH level of soil influencing the growth and the yield of plants, the UV-Vis machine determining the hue of wines to categorise them by age. Students experimented with acidic and basic (alkaline) liquids to determine the accuracy of their hypotheses. On the final program day, Mitchell Harris ran an aroma experiment in which students were tasked with recognising the aromas of refined food ingredients such as oranges, peppers, toast, berries and truffles without the aid of seeing the ingredient. They visited the Mitchell Harris retail store and enjoyed a meal. John is committed to educating future winemakers and providing experiences that inspire young people interested in agriculture to consider working in the wine industry (an option not available to him when at secondary school). Visit www.mitchellharris.com.au.
To connect to the Ballarat Tech School, contact Sofia Fiusco, director, on 0417 469 768 or email to s.fiusco@federation.edu.au.
Entrepreneur Brigid Corcoran, owner of Saltbush Kitchen, focuses on the use of Australian native foods in food production and has established a bushfood product range made locally in Ballarat. Brigid has been educating students on the impact and the opportunity that is created from including bushfoods in the design of new Australian food products. Bushfood sits within the VCE food curriculum, which develops students’ capabilities to understand our Australian food culture. The program explores the history of Australian native foods, including traditional regional foods, and demonstrates the importance of attributing the existence of bushfoods to Aboriginal Australia, acknowledging their cultural influences, culinary knowledge and agricultural practices over thousands of years that has ensured bushfoods can remain in our Australian food culture today.
Students embrace bushfoods and get excited about the future of the Australian food industry through the design of their very own bushfood product. Brigid’s impact through bushfood innovation is engaging and she believes Australia’s drought-tolerant native edible plants have huge potential to contribute to our nation’s agribusiness sector. The opportunity to educate consumers is critical to understanding the positive impact that bushfoods can have on future food production in Australia. Brigid shares her knowledge from running a small business as a product designer and in marketing. The community can experience Australian bushfoods at the new Saltbush Kitchen concept store in Buninyong. Visit www.saltbushkitchen.com.au.
It’s not just what we grow but how we grow it that forms the Tech School’s healthy soil science partnership with Munash Organics. Munash Organics is a certified organic soil health company that focuses on how we balance the soil so that things grow naturally the way nature intended. Munash Organics enables us to take students to “the paddock” from within a science lab. Through our partnership we captured 5th generation farmer Ben at Powlett Hill farm sharing his farming experience.
They share their expertise through the videos we have captured on the farm and in the design of a soil analysis tool. Students bring soil samples to BTS and undertake various experiments to understand the makeup of the soils, including testing pH levels, determining the levels of macro nutrients, and observing the microorganisms that live in the soil. They conclude the program day by making recommendations for corrective soil actions that can be implemented onsite. This program demonstrates chemical and biological science in action and encourages young people to think about the food they are consuming and how to harvest from their own gardens. Visit munash.com.au. The common factor shared between all the BTS programs is the ability for students to experience the key skills and understandings of science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics in real-world applications that are undertaken locally with passionate industry leaders. Regionally, we are serving up the goods!
