We design the change.
Our architects explore how the plan can change while respecting its setting. Construction and interior decisions develop with the proposal.
Kensington / New life for older homes
Builders in Kensington for homes worth keeping
We help Kensington owners plan renovations and new homes that suit the character of their street. The original rooms, a contemporary addition and the garden are designed to work as one house.
CONWAY / Randwick / Completed 2025
01 / The proposition
Keep the character that drew you here
Most owners talking to builders in Kensington start with an existing house rather than an empty site. The front rooms and the face it shows the street are often what you want to keep, with daily life made easier behind them.
Our nearby CONWAY project in Randwick is exactly that kind of brief. Tina Kosta Studio designed the house and its interiors and we built it.
Know your heritage setting
Start with the heritage map
West Kensington and Sacred Heart are named heritage conservation areas, so we check where your property sits against them first. Neither redevelopment in the centre nor an apartment building next door can be taken as a precedent for your home.
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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 Before you extend
Heritage, precinct and flood
Where your lot sits on the maps decides which design questions come first. We confirm the heritage setting, the precinct and the flood information before the extent of new work is fixed.
- 01
Conservation boundaries, lot by lot.
We check West Kensington and Sacred Heart against your actual lot. The significance assessment then guides what is kept and where an addition goes.
- 02
The right planning chapter.
Whether the Centre and Well Located Housing Areas provisions apply to you takes a specific check. A building elsewhere in Kensington does not settle your envelope.
- 03
Flood information before a lower floor.
Council identifies the Green Square West Kensington and Kensington Centennial Park flood catchments. We find out which applies to your property before designing basement rooms or a sunken living space.
- 04
Keep the front garden in the brief.
West Kensington's character guidance favours planted setbacks and low or open front fences. Where it applies, we fit parking around that garden setting so the driveway does not take over the frontage.
Old fabric, new rooms
Where the old house meets the new
The join between a retained house and an addition gets its own design work. We treat it as a room you will live in and as a building junction we have to get right.
Record what gives it character.
We document the original details that make the house what it is. Heritage input comes in where the listing or conservation setting requires it.
Plan how you move through it.
We map how the retained rooms lead into the addition. Light and circulation are tested before floor area.
Resolve the junction.
Roof connections, drainage and structural support are coordinated in one set of drawings. We document which materials are repaired and which are new.
Where we come in
Design with us or bring your architect's plans
We can start with your Kensington house as it stands and work through it with you. If an architect is already on board, we focus on building that design.
We build your team's design.
Bring the heritage advice and the drawings together. We plan how the retained parts of the house are protected during the works.
Explore our work
Retained character at CONWAY, Randwick
![[ CONWAY ]](/projects/shore/conway-roofline.webp)
[ CONWAY ]
Randwick
Completed 2025
CONWAY's tuckpointed brick frontage now leads to a contemporary extension. We built it to Tina Kosta Studio's design.
- Architecture
- Tina Kosta Studio
- Interiors & facade
- Tina Kosta Studio
Two sides of Kensington
Residential streets and Anzac Parade
Council describes Federation and interwar housing in the western part of the suburb. The Kensington and Kingsford location controls are a separate check, so a development on Anzac Parade does not set the approach for every residential street.
Questions to bring early
Renovating or rebuilding in Kensington: your questions
Can I keep the front of my Kensington house and build a new rear?
That depends on the house, its significance and the work you have in mind. Once those constraints are clear, we can plan a retained frontage with new living at the back.
What drives the cost of a heritage renovation?
Repairing original fabric and joining new structure to it can call for different work from replacing the whole building. An early inspection defines that scope before materials and finishes are chosen.
How far is CONWAY from Kensington?
CONWAY, finished in 2025, is in Randwick. Measured between approximate suburb centres, Kensington and Randwick sit 1.6 kilometres apart as the crow flies, which is not a measure to the house itself.
Can a new house in Kensington be approved as complying development?
Not where heritage restrictions exclude complying development, in which case a new house needs a DA. Elsewhere the land and the design must still meet the code, including any flood requirements that apply.
Keep the best, change the rest
Tell us what you treasure in your Kensington home
Tell us which features you value and which parts no longer suit your household. We will shape a brief that respects both.
Plan your Kensington project
