A major renovation.
We redesign the rooms and resolve the interiors as part of the architecture. Existing walls, services and structural capacity are checked before the construction scope is fixed.
House design and delivery / Hillsdale
Builders in Hillsdale who design privacy in from day one
We help Hillsdale owners reshape their houses around how they live and who lives next door. Our architects and builders take on extensions, new homes and a second dwelling where the site suits one.
LATTICE / Matraville / Completed 2024
01 / The proposition
A house with flats for neighbours
When you compare builders in Hillsdale, ask how they design a home beside larger residential buildings. Council describes three storey flats to the west and south of the local centre, with houses to the north.
Here, where a window sits can matter as much as how big the room is. We study the sightlines between buildings and the outdoor spaces you want to use. The plan then brings light in while giving each room the privacy it needs.
Before adding floor area
Fix the rooms that matter before you add more
An addition earns its place when it improves how the whole house works. We look at how you move through the house, its structure and the buildings beside it before deciding where new space should go. A bigger upper level may need different windows from the rooms below. Weighing these options early shows whether extending or starting again better fits your brief.
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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 Hillsdale controls and context
The centre and the side streets play by different rules
Two sampled Hillsdale residential locations are R3, with mapped height of 12 m and floor space ratio of 1:1. These figures change from street to street, so a planner confirms what your proposed home can be.
- 01
Southpoint rules stay at Southpoint.
The DCP sets consolidation and access arrangements for the remaining parcels in Hillsdale Local Centre. Do not assume they apply to a house elsewhere in the suburb.
- 02
Get your own flood levels.
Council places Hillsdale in the Birds Gully and Bunnerong Road catchment. Advice for your address guides drainage and how the driveway meets the floors inside.
- 03
Subdivision follows the street.
Neither sampled point returned a mapped minimum lot area. Where the LEP sets no minimum, Council's DCP looks at the prevailing lot pattern.
- 04
Zoning is not approval.
R3 zoning alone does not approve a duplex or any particular building form. A certifier also checks any proposed CDC against its code and land exclusions.
Shaping your Hillsdale plans
Your daily routine first, then the boundaries
A good plan shows how you will live in the house as well as how it sits on the lot. We work through both alongside the technical work the build needs.
Walk us through a normal day.
Tell us where the current layout feels awkward or where space goes unused. That gives our architect real problems to solve.
Map the neighbours.
Neighbouring windows, balconies and boundary conditions go onto the site information. Our architect uses them to study overlooking and sunlight.
Weigh old structure against new.
Our builder assesses what opening up rooms or adding a level involves. The design adjusts before those choices turn into detailed construction work.
Plan deliveries for the street.
Materials need a workable drop off and storage arrangement. We plan it with the build sequence and any permissions required.
Your options in Hillsdale
Renovation, rebuild or dual occupancy
A label like renovation or rebuild does not tell you the work involved. We set out the decisions and reports your property needs.
A knockdown rebuild.
Starting again frees you to rethink circulation and outdoor living. Planning controls and the homes next door still guide the scale.
Two homes on one lot.
We test whether the land and proposed use support a dual occupancy. Each home needs its own workable entry, layout and outdoor space.
Make room with an addition.
A rear extension can give a small house the living space it lacks. We study the garden it would leave and the windows of surrounding flats before deciding how far to extend.
Explore our work
LATTICE, our completed Matraville duplex
[ LATTICE ]
Matraville, NSW
Completed 2024
A nearby dual residence with natural stone, Venetian plaster and timber battens.
- Architecture
- SHORE
- Interiors & facade
- SHORE
Finished work close by
Take a look at LATTICE in Matraville
LATTICE is our Matraville duplex, completed in 2024 with architecture and interiors by SHORE. Its timber battens, stone and Venetian plaster give you a material palette to react to. Matraville's centre is about 1.3 km from Hillsdale's in a straight line, measured using the official suburb polygons.
Questions to bring early
Building a house in Hillsdale: questions we hear
Are detached houses typical of Hillsdale's housing stock?
No. The 2021 Census recorded apartments as 87.8% of occupied private dwellings in Hillsdale and separate houses as 4.2%. That is why we design every house around what stands beside it. The figures describe the housing mix, not the controls on your lot.
How can an upper floor stay private beside nearby flats?
We trace the sightlines before setting the position and size of each opening. Window orientation, sill height and screening can protect rooms without shutting them in. The answer depends on the buildings next door and the light available.
Can we use the Hillsdale Local Centre access arrangements for our house?
Those provisions cover particular parcels named in the DCP. Your vehicle access is assessed against the controls that actually apply to your site. A nearby right of way gives no access rights to another property.
Which costs deserve attention in a Hillsdale house extension?
Structural changes and the join between new and existing rooms need a clear scope. Privacy details, drainage and tight delivery space can also add to the work. We raise these while the design can still adapt.
Start with your current plan
Let's rethink your Hillsdale home
Bring the house plans and tell us how you want to live in it. We will talk through the scope before you commit to extending or rebuilding.
Review your Hillsdale brief
