Built to be lived in, these four architecturally designed townhouses in Caringbah South, in Sydney's Sutherland Shire, were truly built with their eventual owners in mind – families and retirees looking to downsize. In an exercise of future-proofing, the two built for the retirees are equipped with their own elevator. A contrasted colour palette and mixed materials mean each building has a bold impact and impressive street appeal. Inside, large voids in each allow natural light to fill the homes and showcase the craftsmanship of all of the finishes throughout.
To get the scoop on this project, Kate of Think Built sat down with Jake Habojan and asked him about some features of the build, and she learned about the trials, tribulations and triumphs encountered.
Kate: Introduce yourself! Which Think Team members worked on this project?
Jake Habojan: There was myself, site foreman, Paul Oliver (aka Oli), my leading hand, as well as carpenters Sam Keppel, Matthew Jessop and Matt Habojan. We work really well as a team and we know each other’s strengths – so it’s always great working with these guys.
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Kate: What did this project entail?
Jake: Actinotus Avenue involved the demolition of an existing house in Caringbah South and the construction of a town house development, which was made up of 2 three-bedroom townhouses and 2 four-bedroom townhouses.
Kate: What were some challenges encountered in the project and how did Think Built overcome them?
Jake: One of the major challenges in this project was weather - we had constant rain for the best part of 3 months. Being at the bottom of the street, it meant we copped most of the natural ground run-off. To overcome this, we installed extra below ground drainage in the form of a large soak away pit below the driveway. By reducing the large amount of water that would sit just below the ground surface, it meant we could continue work almost immediately after heavy downpours and the ground would remain stable. This saved us many, many rain-days (possibly to the boys’ dismay!) and helped us to achieve on-time completion.
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Kate: What is your favourite feature or features of this project?
Jake: We really wanted to capitalise on the site’s natural assets and maximise natural light, which we were able to do and we were pleased about that. All four of the townhouses feature large internal voids, two of them up to 6 metres high! We partially clad these high ceilings with WeatherTex woodgrain cladding – a beautiful finish which continued from the inside ceiling to outside under the eaves. This visual continuation of materials was achievable because of the high set windows we installed – a clever way to seamlessly integrate interior and exterior and make the build feel larger, lighter and brighter.
