Project facts
| Status | Design and engineering complete |
|---|---|
| Location | Lower Plenty, VIC (edge of the Yarra valley) |
| Use | Replacement home after a fire, on a dual occupancy property |
| Classification | Class 1a habitable dwelling, engineered and certified |
| Design | Single-gable form over a full upper floor level |
| Frame | Light gauge steel wall frames, upper floor structure, main spanning beam and roof trusses, roll-formed and pre-punched to the engineering drawings |
| Why steel | Non-combustible framing for a bushfire rebuild |
The Design We Are Aiming For
Michael's place at Lower Plenty is a lifestyle block — room and paddock on the edge of the Yarra valley, close enough to be a short run into central Melbourne. Fire destroyed the existing house on it. The property carries a dual occupancy, and to hold that approval with council Michael needed a replacement Class 1a structure on the site — a proper habitable dwelling, engineered and certified as such, not an outbuilding with a kitchen in it. That requirement sets the standard everything here is built to. This is the design we are aiming for. A clean single-gable form over a full upper floor level, with the door and window openings already set out in the frames. The model shows the complete light gauge steel skeleton — the wall frames, the floor structure carrying the upper level, the main beam spanning the width to support it, and the roof trusses that set the pitch of the gable. Every member is engineered and signed off at this stage, then roll-formed and pre-punched to these exact drawings, so the steel that lands at Lower Plenty arrives cut to length, labelled and in build order. Steel framing is also non-combustible, which is not a small consideration when you are rebuilding after a fire.