Industrial House Renovation in Palm Beach, Gold Coast Award Winner No.1
This used to be a mechanics workshop built in the sixties in central Palm Beach: exposed blockwork and trusses, oil stained concrete slab floor and a leaking roof at a very low pitch.
We converted the space into a 4 bedroom house including master suite (with ensuite and walk-in-robe), a gym, a study/office and kitchen-dining-living combined. It was all built for under $150k. We won’t see those prices again but it was a very affordable solution at the time.
We pursued an industrial design as that was what the building screamed out for and it suited the clients young family and the central Palm Beach district.
The main anchor point for the design was the polished concrete slab and from there we introduced shiny Zincalume corrugated iron featured in some of the entry corridor walls – not too much – less experienced building designers or architects would overdo it. Care and thought needs to be taken with bold materials, not just with the wall itself but how light bounces around it, and the texture involved, what it’s going to feel like.
We then chose to paint some of the existing concrete block walls white, it being a more economical solution than cladding it and it also retained some of the existing character. Where we had designed new walls, they were cladded in plywood natural stain finish. We kept the exposed trusses black with a new coat of paint and added industrial style lighting to enhance the industrial effect.
The main challenge was the existing concrete slab, which was covered in oil stains, but it came up fine with some interesting effects. I always encourage polishing existing slabs, they don’t need to be perfect and sometimes blemishes and small holes filled with resin add visual interest and there is always the historical element that I love to keep on a renovation, the stories behind the building.
The external brickwork on the street facing wall was cracked but not falling down, so this was braced and just clad over in hardwood planks and stained, another economical solution to a potential problem area.
The end result was a clean, economical inner city living solution that the owners loved which also picked up an Award for 2015 for Best Residential Renovations / Additions Gold Coast BDAQ.
This Gold Coast builder was a driving force behind this project – DJG Projects PTY LTD
To see more about this project, click on https://www.arcodesigns.com.au/project/industrial-shed-conversion
