Panania knockdown rebuild

The brief

The client's existing three-bedroom brick veneer no longer suited a growing family and fell well short of current thermal and space standards. Rather than renovate around a fixed footprint, we assessed a full knockdown rebuild against council controls for the site and found room for a considerably larger, better-oriented home within the same block.

The brief called for four bedrooms, an open-plan living and kitchen zone opening to the rear yard, a separate living area for the ground floor, and a double garage — all within a fixed budget and a strict move-back timeframe tied to the client's rental lease.

Approvals & design

We engaged a residential draftsperson to prepare the design, coordinated a BASIX certificate and structural engineering, and lodged for a Complying Development Certificate, which cleared council review inside the expected timeframe. Demolition and asbestos removal were scheduled and approved in parallel to avoid dead time between contract signing and site start.

• Complying Development Certificate lodged and approved
• BASIX and NCC energy compliance built into the design from concept stage
• Structural and stormwater engineering coordinated ahead of demolition

The build

Demolition and site establishment ran over two weeks, followed by piering and slab, frame, and lock-up over the following four months. Council and hydraulic inspections were scheduled ahead of each stage so no trade was left waiting on sign-off. A single site supervisor ran the program from footings through to final fix, with the client receiving a written update every Friday.

Result

The finished home delivered four bedrooms, two living areas, a double garage and a 7-star equivalent thermal design — handed over three weeks ahead of the client's lease expiry, with zero defects raised at the final walkthrough.

"We had one point of contact for the entire build and never had to chase an update. It was handed over ahead of schedule, exactly as quoted." — Client, Panania rebuild