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Sustainable Homes Melbourne Transforming rundown old homes into beautiful, comfortable sustainable homes we can all be truly pro

The connection between inside and out is not an afterthought. It is something we design from the beginning.When those do...
18/10/2026

The connection between inside and out is not an afterthought. It is something we design from the beginning.

When those doors open, the kitchen, the living space, and the outdoor area all become one. That is the brief working the way it should. Timber floors running through, warm cabinetry, pendant lights over the island, and a bedroom that is quiet and simple without feeling sparse.

A home like this does not happen by accident. It comes from knowing early on how the family actually uses their space, and building around that rather than around a floor plan template.

Designed by Architect Hewson

15/10/2026

The first question a new client asked us was: what's your aesthetic? I put that to David, our in-house architect, and his answer was direct.

We do not have one.

And that is not a gap. That is the whole point. Our process is client-driven. We are not walking into a first meeting, collecting some information, and then presenting a finalized design. That is not how it works. Good design does not start with the architect's preferences. It starts with the client's.

If you come to us with a brief, we are not going to put our stamp on it and hand it back. We are going to work through it with you.

Full conversation with David available now wherever you get your podcasts.

This is House of Meaning.

13/10/2026

You need the right light to see the quality of a paint job. This is it.

Wall to wall deep red, panel moulding, not a line out of place. This is the kind of finish that only shows up when the prep work was done properly. No shortcuts on the surface, no shortcuts underneath it.

This is the kind of project that reminds you why doing it properly matters.A Victorian terrace in the inner city. Tight ...
11/10/2026

This is the kind of project that reminds you why doing it properly matters.

A Victorian terrace in the inner city. Tight site, heritage constraints, and a brief to make it feel completely different on the inside while respecting what was already there on the outside. The result is exactly what we aim for. Warm, considered, full of light. Timber joinery, open shelving, pendant lights, and a kitchen that actually wants to be used.

The street presence stays true to the original. What happens behind the facade is where the design work lives.

08/10/2026

At a Christmas party, David Nicholson our in-house architect said something that stuck. Building a home isn't meant to be easy.

Out of context it sounds harsh. In context it makes complete sense. Difficult does not mean not enjoyable. Things happen that you cannot predict. People want certainty and a renovation rarely gives you that in full. But it will also be one of the most rewarding things you ever do. And maybe
that is because of how hard it is.

Running a marathon is not enjoyable to train for. It is hard. Yet people do it anyway. If it were easy, there would be something else people were striving for. Building a home is the same.

Full conversation with David available now wherever you get your podcasts.

This is House of Meaning.

06/10/2026

To rebuild the frame of a terrace home, you first have to remove the existing structure. Which raises an obvious problem.

In a terrace, the subfloor timbers do more than hold the floor. The ceiling joists brace wall against wall, running through the entire row of homes. Take that structure out and the building starts to move. So before we touch anything, these props go in, spanning from one party wall to the other. They twist to apply tension and take over the job the original structure was doing.

The building stays exactly where it is. We rebuild around them. Once the new frame is in and the structure is restored, the props come out.

It is one of those things that looks simple on site but represents a significant amount of planning before a single piece of timber is touched. Get the sequence wrong on a heritage terrace and the consequences are serious.

The timber runs all the way through this home. Exterior cladding, deck, stair treads. The same warm Australian hardwood ...
04/10/2026

The timber runs all the way through this home. Exterior cladding, deck, stair treads. The same warm Australian hardwood appearing at every transition between inside and outside.

That consistency is what gives the home its coherence. The courtyard deck becomes a natural extension of the interior rather than a separate space you step out into. The louvres on the upper level pull ventilation through while keeping the material palette intact. Inside, floating timber stairs sit alongside a perforated metal balustrade and built-in shelving that uses the space underneath without making it feel cluttered.

When one material is trusted to do that much work, the whole home reads as resolved rather than assembled.

01/10/2026

The design process is not a reveal. You do not hand over a brief and come back to a finished plan.

David Nicholson, SHM's in-house architect, describes it as writing a story together. The client tells him things. He introduces ideas, sketchy ones on paper at first. Each meeting those ideas evolve. Some get thrown out because they are bad. Some get thrown out because they are too difficult. Eventually a collection of ideas forms that everyone is happy with. Buildable. Compliant. Theirs.

By that point everyone is reading the same story. And because the design has been built together from the beginning, it never reaches the moment where a client says I really hate this, start again. That moment cannot happen when the process is a journey rather than a handover.

Full conversation with David drops this week. Follow so you do not miss it.

This is House of Meaning.

29/09/2026

Before we can do anything with a subfloor in a heritage home, we have to make sure the building stays exactly where it is.

These props are what make that possible. They twist to apply tension and spread the load across the building while we remove and replace the subfloor underneath. Without them, the building can slowly move inward. On a heritage structure that has been settling for over a hundred years, that is not something you can afford to let happen, even temporarily.

Once the new subfloor is in and the frame is secured, we take the props out. But while the work is happening, they are doing everything.

And then there is this. Bluestone like that does not turn up on many jobs. This one is going to be something special when it is finished.

From the street, the original brick facade, the arched iron entry, the twin gables. The heritage overlay protects that e...
27/09/2026

From the street, the original brick facade, the arched iron entry, the twin gables. The heritage overlay protects that elevation and it should be protected.

Behind it is a home that was rebuilt to work for the people living in it today. Olive green cabinetry on the kitchen island, timber veneer running floor to ceiling on the upper walls, a dark tile splashback, and a linear pendant that ties it all together. Custom joinery in the hallway where open timber shelving sits inside white floor-to-ceiling cabinetry. Light natural timber vertical cladding on the new addition, sitting next to the original brick of the neighbouring properties without trying to compete with it.

Each material decision was made in relation to the others and to the home it sits inside. That is what gives a project like this its coherence.

Old bones. New life. Done with care.

Address

84 Moor Street
Fitzroy, VIC
3065

Telephone

+611800683697

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