Extending means working in a living space for the builders, and living on a worksite for the homeowners, but Build Professional has the process perfected. Matthew Hall has been a builder in ‘It was an ordinary home, with a bullnose veranda Canberra for 15 years. His company, that had been added, when the country flavour was Build Professional, now concentrates going on in the 80s, but it wasn’t a country style almost solely on renovations and home,’ Matthew explains. extensions. ‘I made a bold decision to specialise in ‘There had been a series of extensions done, renovations and extensions to improve Canberra adding small rooms, but we changed the homes offering a complete design and build configuration for the better, and updated the front service,’ he says. of the house to have a modern street appeal.’ One big difference between new builds and Build Professional designed an upper floor and extensions is that the clients will usually remain in thefront extension that would modernise the façade of home while an extension is underway. ‘So it’s not justthe home. They also remodelled the existing floor a building site, it is someone’s home,’ says Matthew. plan, and opened up the kitchen and dining areas In fact, Matthew sees the builder-client for better family living. Removing the old bullnose relationship during an extension as a bit like a veranda created cleaner lines, while steel detailing marriage. This major two-staged project in the and a horizontal awning to the front of the home are established inner suburb of Campbell took around both functional and a design feature. 24 weeks, so it is a long time to spend in and out of ‘We collaborate with our clients on a design that someone’s home. solves the issues in the house and meets their BUILD needs and budget,’ he adds. ‘Then we work out PROFESSIONAL The old house was a bit tired ... a staged process with the clients, and discuss DESIGNED AN Now they have a beautiful home that access issues.’ UPPER FLOOR AND A big consideration for a major renovation is FRONT EXTENSION is family-friendly and looks good planning the job such that the clients can have a functional living area through each stage of work. The project is now complete, and both Build For this renovation and extension project the Professional and the homeowners are thrilled with owners lived in the home through the entire process. the result. ‘They are great clients, and they’re reallyBuild Professional developed a two-stage plan to happy with it,’ Matthew says. ‘The old house was enable the family of five to live as comfortably as a bit tired and it wasn’t meeting the needs of the possible throughout the construction phase. Stage family. Now they have a beautiful home that is one consisted of the construction of the new garage, family-friendly and looks good.’ ensuite renovation and remodelling of the back of This job began with a single storey brick-veneer the existing home. This enabled the family to use the home in a small cul de sac, lived in by a family with new garage for storage while they lived in the back of three children. Rooms had been added on over the existing home. time, but more space was needed, and a more ‘The clients moved all the furniture into the back modern and open design. rooms and used a barbeque for cooking. They had an upper floor was THE KITCHEN AND DINING AREAS WERE added OPENED UP FOR BETTER FAMILY LIVING NOVEMBER 2018 HOUSING 29