Rework an established home.
Start with the rooms that no longer suit your life and the parts of the house you value. We can design an addition or a new internal layout that keeps the house at its heart.
Bellevue Hill / Houses, gardens and hillside settings
Builders in Bellevue Hill for homes that step with the slope
We design and build around the fall of your block, the rooms you need and the garden you want to keep. In Bellevue Hill the character of your street is part of that conversation from the first meeting.
SOL / Bondi Beach / Completed 2025
01 / The proposition
North or south of the hill
Experienced builders in Bellevue Hill know the northern slopes and plateau are a different setting from the southern precinct's mix of houses and interwar flats. Woollahra's residential guidance treats them separately and pays close attention to landform, established trees and views.
Our architects and builders weigh those conditions against your family's brief. A new home, a knockdown rebuild or an alteration all start with what the site can take and what deserves to stay.
Levels first
Fix the floor levels before the basement
We draw the driveway, living floors and garden against the surveyed slope before the garage is allowed to drive the design. How much you dig and the support needed beside existing walls can change both the layout and what it costs to build.
Shore Projects Architectural Cartography
Loading Architectural Map...
SHORE PROJECTS · LOCATIONS ARE APPROXIMATE
Select a pin or drag to explore
Map data: Esri, HERE, Garmin · © OpenStreetMap contributors
Loading photo…
Darling Point · residential
[ ALOFT ]
Five apartments arranged around Sydney Harbour views, with two basement levels. Completed in 2021, with architecture and interiors by Xpace.
Map locationDarling Point · Indicative location
Xpace (Architecture & Interiors) · SHORE (Construction Delivery)
Explore project details Bellevue Hill planning
In Bellevue Hill the landscape is part of the approval
We read the residential precinct guidance alongside your property's mapped controls. Aston Gardens and Balfour Road carry extra conservation guidance that can affect how an existing building is altered.
- 01
Set the house into its slope.
Council's Bellevue Hill guidance covers stepping development with the land and limiting cut and fill. Tree canopy and neighbouring views are part of the assessment too.
- 02
Respect the interwar setting.
Aston Gardens' conservation guidance recognises its interwar flats and landscaped subdivision. A facade proposal answers to that setting as well as to the building itself.
- 03
Pick the right approval route.
Heritage items and conservation areas are excluded from the Low Rise Housing Diversity Code. A major change in those places needs a heritage informed development application.
- 04
Find where the site drains.
Parts of Bellevue Hill sit within the Rose Bay and Double Bay flood catchments. We obtain advice for the lot before setting basement entrances or low floor levels; a hillside location does not settle that question.
Working with the hillside
From a Bellevue Hill survey to a home that works
Our builders advise on the architecture while levels and room layouts can still move. You can then compare a smaller dig with a larger lower floor.
Place the home in its precinct.
We confirm the northern or southern residential setting and any conservation boundary. We record the existing building and the trees or walls that could shape a new footprint.
Draw the hard junctions.
The street entry, garage ramp and garden connection are tested in section. Neighbouring outlooks go in too, so view sharing is handled while height and form develop.
Price what sits under and around the house.
Retaining, excavation support and tree protection are priced apart from the rooms and finishes. That scope feeds back into the design before the construction documents are finished.
Keep, alter or rebuild
Let the house you have guide the Bellevue Hill brief
A sloping block can take more than one design. We help you compare them against the existing fabric and the planning pathway that applies.
Look at a rebuild or duplex.
We test whether demolition and the proposed number of dwellings are permissible before a full scheme is drawn. Lot size alone does not give you a right to build two homes.
Explore our work
Explore SOL and ALOFT in neighbouring suburbs
[ SOL ]
Bondi Beach, NSW
Completed 2025
Duplex completed in 2025. Architecture and construction by SHORE, interiors by Tina Kosta Studio.
- Architecture
- SHORE
- Interiors & facade
- Tina Kosta Studio
[ ALOFT ]
Darling Point, NSW
Completed 2021
Five apartments completed in 2021, with Xpace architecture and interiors and construction by SHORE.
- Architecture
- Xpace
- Interiors & facade
- Xpace
Close to Bellevue Hill
SOL in Bondi Beach and ALOFT in Darling Point
SOL pairs our architecture and construction with interiors by Tina Kosta Studio. The Bondi Beach duplex was completed in 2025. ALOFT in Darling Point is five apartments designed by Xpace and built by SHORE, completed in 2021.
Measured between suburb centres, Bondi Beach is about 1.8 km from Bellevue Hill and Darling Point about 2.0 km. That describes the area around you, not the trip to either project.
Questions to bring early
Bellevue Hill homes: your questions answered
Why does the northern or southern Bellevue Hill precinct matter?
Council describes a different residential setting in each precinct. Knowing which one applies lets the architect judge a proposal against its real surroundings, including the housing mix and the landform.
Can an Aston Gardens facade be replaced as part of a renovation?
Its conservation context has to be assessed before replacement goes into the scope. The area's interwar buildings and landscaped setting can make external details matter to the wider streetscape.
What should a Bellevue Hill basement budget include?
Allow for assessing the driveway gradient, the retaining structures and the excavation beside existing buildings or walls. Include tree protection and how excavated material leaves the site wherever they affect the work.
Start with your block
Show us your Bellevue Hill block
Send a survey and tell us how you want the house and garden to work together. We will talk through the existing house, the changes in level and the first design calls to make.
Start your Bellevue Hill home
