Coastal designs win big at industry awards

AN ultra-modern two-storey house at Point Lonsdale was revealed as the region’s best at a building industry awards yesterday.

The two-storey custom design earned volume builder Metricon the Master Builders Association of Victoria’s Residential Builder of the Year Award for the south-west region.

The house is a few hundred metres from the beach, where it replaced an original threebedroom timber beach house that last sold for almost $1.4 million in 2010.

It’s one of a number of projects built in established neighbourhoods that impressed the award judges.

MBAV chief executive Radley de Silva said the house captures the bracing freshness of the coastal weather within a cool, sculpted environment with architectural flourish.

“The home fits right in with others that embrace a contemporary beach home aesthetic,” Mr de Silva said.

“The details are clean and quietly luxurious and appear throughout the home in ways that explore the architecture while enveloping the resident.”

The beach house theme was continued over several other projects, including a Separation Creek house that won a special commendation for Pivot Homes in the $1 million to $2 million custom home category.

A number of the winners had replaced existing dwellings in areas like Newtown and Rippleside, where strong capital growth was rewarding owners investing in their properties.

Whitford, Newtown agent Peter Fort said the biggest attraction was getting a brand new product in an established area.

While it improved the streetscapes in some older suburbs, rebuilding often proved more cost-effective than renovating, he said,

“The important thing is because the market has been so strong, people don’t see they are over-capitalising,” he said.