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Semaphore Building Design, Warners Bay (2026)

26/05/2026

Well. This is A Thing.

I must have told this story 10 times this week, so it deserves it's own place on the grid. Get a cuppa, take a seat and here we go.☕🧁

The story goes like this: You're not allowed to laugh.

I'm a knitter, it's not a secret, most people know about my Nanna hobby buuuut about 6 months ago I was halfway through a big cosy winter jumper and started to get an ache in my hand, but because I'm smarter than my aches and pains I persevered (you see where this is going now, right?). Fast forward six months, one jumper, a cute pair of green socks and half of the back of a child-sized cardigan, I finally went to see a hand physio.. Well. The details are boring but lets fast forward another week and my (Archicad and mouse-wielding) hand is strapped and taped and I'm under instructions not to move it.. This is good news for my dislike of housework but bad news for any plans I had for typing or working on all of the reno plans that are in my office right now!

So yes, I have a knitting injury. Yes, it's A Thing. Yes, you may laugh now, I've already heard it three times today, I won't be offended.

What does this load of waffle mean for current and close-to-current clients? I am still working but it is very slow and potentially won't pick up speed for a few weeks. It also means that I'm dictating my texts, emails and social media posts, so, if you're playing along at home, see if you can pick the typos - why not make it a drinking game, someone needs to be having fun with this situation! I'm planning on spending the next couple of weeks catching up on site visits, site research, certificate ordering and general admin - prepare for an influx of receipting and invoicing, friends, because that's one thing that dictation is good for!

Any questions, sympathy, laughing emoji or jokes should be directed to:

[email protected]
0434300940
🙋🏻‍♀️ Bec

28/04/2026

- Project Update -

Lock up at our project at West Wallsend! Windows and doors in, merbau deck down, new roof on, and the old house has been opened up to the new living room addition.

It's a bit of a milestone, so I thought a real life vs renders comparison was in order!

Heritage Conservation Area (HCA) requirements are changing ALL the time and the way that they are interpreted by planners and consultants is also constantly changing. This means that we, as a designer-client team, need to be flexible and willing to compromise on our must-have and nice-to-have list. I have this exact same conversation with all of my HCA clients - flexibility and compromise are two project traits that will help you to avoid disappointment during the planning process.

This is another adorable home in the West Wallsend HCA - this one was approved in February 2025 and began just a few weeks ago with

There are so many great details on this project - bifold doors with a threshold drainage system, allowing almost-level access from the deck to the house, scissor trusses from inside to outside to give the space extra height, making it feel even larger, clerestory windows to bring the light in all the way to the ceiling and (eventually) continuing the existing cypress pine floorboards throughout the addition, for beautiful continuity throughout the home.

Inclusions on this project that helped to satisfy HCA requirements:
- Change the tile roof to a light coloured metal roof
- Step the addition in at the point of the addition
- Change of cladding at the point of the new addition to demarcate old and new
- Ridgeline of the new addition lower than existing, so that it isn't visible from the street
- Addition not visible from the streetfront
- Light coloured material and paint choices

Got a home in a Heritage Conservation Area and have questions? Get in touch for a chat, I'm here to help.

🙋🏻‍♀️ Bec
Ph: 0434300940
E: [email protected]

25/04/2026

- What is an RFI? -

A Request For Information is what council or your certifier sends you when they need more info about a certain part of your Development Assessment application or Complying Development Certificate application.

While there are so many reasons that you might get an RFI during your application process, some examples include:

- Clarification on design aspects, such as how the proposed development will interact with the other houses in the street
- Stormwater Details
- Details about landscape plans
- Interpretation of various reports - arborist, bushfire, heritage, among others
- Clarification about specified materials or colours

How can you avoid getting so many RFI's that it holds up your project?

By using an experienced professional, you can avoid many of the common issues that arise during the process. This could be an experienced building designer, a townplanner, a heritage consultant or a BASIX consultant.

Generally, you will receive a timeframe that you must respond within and it is important that you stay in touch with the contact person noted in the documentation so that they know where you are with responding to the RFI or if you need an extension.

Sometimes, the RFI is due to a simple oversight and sometimes it requires additional reporting.

In the case of one of our projects at Holmesville, it was due to a tightening of the Heritage regs in the West Wallsend HCA between the time that we had our Heritage Report completed and the Assessment beginning, which has resulted in a complete redesign of the rear of this home, as the proposed roofline wasn't considered feasible.

However, sometimes a major RFI isn't the end of the world - and this design has shown that adversity can end with some pretty spectacular results!

Got a home in a Heritage Conservation area and have questions? Let me know and we'll see how I can help!

🙋🏻‍♀️ Bec
Ph: 0434300940
E: [email protected]

22/04/2026

- Floor Plan Review Follow Up - Heritage Edition -

Do you remember that floor plan review that I posted last week? Well, here we are!

The background:

There is actually already a house on this site but it has been deemed unsuitable and unsafe for living and renovation by both a structural engineer and a heritage consultant but the site is beautiful and this family wants to build their dream here!

This new home is located in the West Wallsend Heritage Conservation Area, which means that there are many constraints to overcome prior to submitting to council for assessment. This render is just the initial concept to be presented to Lake Macquarie Council for their initial DA assessment.

There is a loooong way to go before we can submit and this design will go through many more versions before it is finalised. It might need to be made narrower, we may need to set the garage further in so that there is more articulation from the driveway side of the house or we might need to redesign the whole house - every moment designing homes in heritage areas is a roller coaster and I'm here for the ride!

Key Heritage design requirements:

- Single gable, facing the front boundary
- Single ridge line from front to back of the dwelling
- Front Porch
- Timber framed, double hung windows
- Windows are oriented vertically, which means that they are taller than they are wide
- Tall roof pitch, this one is 30 degrees, I have seen up to 32 degrees. Standard roof pitches on modern homes are 22.5 degrees, on average.
- Light colour scheme - no black roofs here!
- Low picket fence, if fencing is required
- Landscaping to the driveway boundary to break up the length of the new building

Extras:
- Integrated garage hidden from the streetscape
- Rear entertaining area
- Modern, open plan floorplan to the rear, classic layout at the front - bedrooms at the front, central hallway to access the back of the house.
- So much storage, perfect for growing and established families and able to take whatever life throws at you!

19/04/2026

- Kitchen Design -

When I designed our kitchen, (skip to the last slide, if you’re impatient!), I knew what I wanted - bold colour, timber features, drawers everywhere, an underbench hidden bin, dedicated tupperware drawer and a separate drawer for their lids as well as access to my everyday items right at the cooking area. I ended up with a walk-in pantry out of luck, more than planning - the floorplan originally had a HUGE linen cupboard in that space, so it seemed destined to be my pantry. However, it is important to note that you can often get just as much storage from a wall pantry, as you can with a walk in - just make sure you're talking to the right person.

I will usually suggest that you visit a kitchen designer while we are in the process of designing your home, so that you can get their input on structural elements VS standard sized kitchen fittings before locking in the design (HELLOOOO corner pantry mechansim thingos!)

If you have a great kitchen designer/ cabinetmaker, drop their details below and help others to start their kitchen journey!

I'll start:

..and of course, my budget fave, Ikea 😉

Who have you used, and why? And if you're a builder, who do you recommend to your clients?

17/04/2026

Rainbow pants for today’s site visits!

Visits at Tarro and Kahibah last week, Charlestown, Waratah West and West Wallsend today, Boolaroo, Booragul and Holmesville next week!

Design and Drafting spaces are filling up fast for the next couple of months and I’m now booking appointments into June.

Did you know that the design and drafting process can take 8 weeks or more? Add to that the time needed to coordinate surveys, initial certificates, engineering and essential reporting, you can be looking at 6 months (usually more) for the entire design and drafting process!

Knowing a building designer who has contacts in place, ready to provide you with these required services can make the process run more efficiently and waste less time. My team of consultants include engineers, surveyors, a town planner, Heritage Consultants, Certifiers, Bushfire Consultants, Environmental (BASIX) Consultants and builders, all great people who are ready to work on your project with us!

Get in touch today!

🙋🏻‍♀️ Bec
Ph: 0434300940
E: [email protected]

08/04/2026

Eep! It seems that my previous video is a bit fuzzy, so here are the stills so you can get all the details!

08/04/2026

This week, I had the pleasure of reworking a floor plan for a family who like the size of this home but wanted to change things up a little before submitting their plans for approval.

I love this new floor plan mostly because of the garage! Who would have thought it?

One of my biggest bugbears with new builds is the idea of the "garage facade" where the garage is generally the prime feature of the front of the house. By rotating the garage and moving it to the back of the house, we can still maintain connection between the garage and dwelling but we bring the focus back to the design of the facade, beautiful materials, architectural features, landscaping and how that home makes you feel when you turn into the driveway after being out of the house all day.

This floorplan is infinitely modifiable, the rooms are large, the storage is ample and the verandahs are plentiful - just my sort of home!

Stay tuned to see more of this design as we develop some elevations for pre-DA assessments.

If you have a floorplan that you think could be improved, give me a call and we'll work together to make that house your home.

Ph: 04343000940
E: [email protected]
👩🏻 Bec

27/03/2026

Hi Friends!

I'll be taking some time off over the April school holidays (3/4-21/4). I'll be in and out of the office but if you find that I'm not my usual prompt self, that's because I'm eating all the chocolate and having lots of daytime naps!

If you have any urgent enquiries, please get them through to me in the next week.

Happy Chocolating!

Bec x

25/03/2026

- RENDERS -

I've been working on ALOT of renders in the last few weeks! I want to show you all of them so I'm beginning with this gorgeous arbour addition up in Port Stephens.

Sometimes a builder will come to me and explain that their client just needs a little bit more than the black and white floorplans. They want to see how their home could look after the builders have packed up, the grass has grown back and the last of the dust has been swept away.

In this case, the client wanted to know how this pergola would help to shade their home and also, how that shade would then behave in the winter months. So, I completed some 3D sun studies for them!

When I'm finalising a render, I'm always very aware that we need to keep the materials and colours as close to the actual product being used - it's never perfect (there are dedicated businesses for hyper-realistic imagery) and it takes time but it's worth it in the end. If you know the name of your brick, the brand and colour of paint and the profile of your cladding, that is always very helpful information to have!

For now, I'm hoping that this client was happy with the end result and hopefully it has helped them to decide that this beautiful pergola addition will look and function beautifully as an addition to their outdoor living space!

Are you looking for a Building Designer who will listen to your needs and help you to work out the best solution for the way you live now and into the future?

Give me a call!

Ph: 04343000940
E: [email protected]
👩🏻 Bec

Semaphore Building Design

26/05/2026

28/04/2026

25/04/2026

22/04/2026

19/04/2026

17/04/2026

08/04/2026

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27/03/2026

25/03/2026

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