Building costs have exploded during Covid but they have disproportionately affected smaller projects with difficult access and complicated builds. This is because both the cost of labour and timber has accelerated a lot more than other things driving the cost of a typical extension in the inner west on a small site up by over 50% since the start of 2020. We’ve mobilised to meet these costs head on and have laid out the following design strategies in our war on building costs in a quest to construct cost-effective buildings without sacrificing quality. The greatest cost savings are inevitabl ..read more

Knowledge and experience of planning law, council machinations and the approval process is a fundamental of development approval success.  Here are 7 ways to help your application succeed: 1.Quality of documentation There is no doubt that making information clear and concise, making drawings look great, emphasising great heritage, community outcomes, development mitigation and demonstrating compliance is the key. But also making the plans and documents easy to navigate and understand doesn’t hurt your cause. Making the job of the assessment team easier makes them feel better about your a ..read more

“So one thing that we do is a design consultation where we can workshop approval strategies with you and answer any questions. “ Understanding a Complex System Getting a project approved by the council can often feel like navigating through a labyrinth. The process is intricate, with various pathways and strategies at your disposal. Understanding this complex system is not just about ticking boxes; it's about actively engaging with the council, using the right levers, and sometimes, knowing when to split your application, leave things out, cut your losses, and move forward. Here's how to str ..read more

You’re stuck in council.Let me guess, you’ve heard nothing for months, and you don’t know what’s happening. Explanation: Council planning departments can be dysfunctional and under-resourced bureaucracies. Council planners have a complicated job of working with multiple planning instruments, many vested interests, and conflicting and slow information from consultants within the council. Solution: Demand a meeting with the council. If the planner refuses to meet, don’t hesitate to contact the GM at the council. But... be courteous and patient, work in a positive manner, and try to understand t ..read more

What many apartment owners don't realise is that there is a vast amount of hidden potential in every apartment. Even recently built apartments tend to follow a mass-produced, cookie-cutter approach - one size fits all. Therefore, there is potential to refine their design and, with the right approach, you can really maximise value. We've recently published a blog about renovating within the constraints of the building footprint. This blog was very popular but was specifically written for homeowners. So, we thought: “Which of the principles used in homes can be applied to apartments?” Here are ..read more

There’s no understating that it’s been a brutal time for builders and their clients since we first learnt about Covid - experiencing a complete shutdown, then a wild roller coaster ride that threw many building companies out of the carriage, sending them into bankruptcy. But things have changed, industry data shows a stabilisation in prices, normalisation in markets. We’re able to find staff and subcontractors readily again and suppliers are keen for our business rather than feeling like they’re doing us a favour. Sure there’s no going back in terms of price but once we accept the new normal ..read more

The best part of our work is helping homeowners envision new possibilities for their existing spaces. And working in the Inner West comes with its own challenges of heritage conservation that might constrain options when renovating. Even when faced with constraints, we believe in helping our clients find creative ways to manufacture the sensation of expansive space from seemingly nothing. The greatest validation? When a client shares that their friends often ask, "How much did you extend the building?" And surprisingly, their response is: "we didn’t."  By reconfiguring the back portion o ..read more

Renovating your apartment in New South Wales? What most people don’t realise is that the legislation set up to protect consumers from unscrupulous developers will now impact something as simple as a bathroom renovation in their apartment and getting the compliance wrong has potential consequences for an apartment owner and the value of the property. Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on how you think about it), even with some simple projects, you’ll need to navigate the complex regulatory landscape efficiently to ensure a successful project that not only enhances your living space but a ..read more

There is nothing more pleasing than the satisfaction of your clients to know that you’re on the right track. In on recent project the feedback from our clients was really great validation in achieving what had been the key project objectives: “Once we finished the renovations with Ballast Point our friends kept asking how much we extended the house and they were disbelieving and a little suspicious when we told them it was just an internal reno” ~ Nick and Chloe, Balmain East To overcome planning and heritage restrictions and a desire to preserve outdoor space, Nick and Chloe made their home ..read more

Introduction to the Ballast Point Half Day Workshop Ballast Point now kicks off every new project with a half day workshop with our clients. We use design sprint tools including user experience journey mapping to understand our client’s needs and help them set clear project objectives that we can track throughout the project. We have found that doing this significantly reduces design time, number of revision needed as well as frustration during the subsequent phases of design. The workshop helps our team to laser-focus on our client’s key project objectives and lays a solid foundation for the ..read more