Dream Home: Extension or Build New?

With more people working from home than ever, creating your dream home is more important than ever. This helps to ensure flexible working from home arrangements and most importantly ensures maximum comfort for your family.

However, with property prices increasing to unprecedent levels, relocating to upgrade your living conditions may not be the most cost-effective way to achieve this ideal dream home.

For the most part, questions surrounding dream homes relate to building budgets and what is achievable. Therefore, before embarking on the design process, my advice is to prepare a feasibility study.

What does a feasibility study do?

When it comes to a feasibility study, we can prepare several options exploring maximum and minimum additions and alterations. We also assess the applicable budgets and expenses. Alternatively, a feasibility study can assess the benefits of demolishing and building new. Overall, a feasibility study helps to assess the best path for moving forward with the preferred design option that achieves the budget constraints.

How is a feasibility study assessed?

In preparing the Feasibility Study we will analyse:

• Your wish list: 

What is the ultimate level of accommodation you require, Do you have some design elements you would like to include?

• The existing building’s structural capacity for renovation and extension. 

By reusing the existing structure as much as possible, we can contain costs. Some existing structures are expensive to add a second storey.

• Planning Scheme requirements and restraints

The Victorian Planning Scheme defines the Permissible Use for all properties in Victoria, outlining allowable extent of building works, siting requirements and any specific Overlays that must be adhered to.

• It is necessary to consider building conditions and planning requirements. 

In considering these and your wish list, we will then prepare alternative building mass studies which are achievable and apply reasonable building budgets to the construction and fit out works.

Upon reviewing the options, we can initiate the design process that will create your Dream Home, ideally achieving your wish list and budget constraints, from a fully informed position.

So, if you are thinking you would like to create your Dream Home, but not quite sure where to start – give us a call.

Alternately, fill out the form Preliminary Questions and return it to projects@byarchitecture.com.au.

Barbara Yerondais, 30/8/21

Director and Principal Architect