08 May 2017 /

TRUST – THE KEY TO INNOVATIVE DESIGN!

In relation to our innovative design resolutions, I’m often asked “How do you do it?” by a broad range of industry colleagues and clients.

Well… it’s a holistic approach which involves drawing on our skills, knowledge and effective communication and often turning restraints into positive, creative outcomes.

The ability to thoroughly comprehend the structural build process and the commencement of each design is invaluable to enable us to push boundaries of conventional builds.

These attributes have been clearly recognised with a number of builders over a long period commissioning Clever Design to design their own personal projects, which allows us to extend their skills with some challenging design builds.

So, what’s the key?

“Trust” is the number one key.
When clients hand over the reins to ‘trust’ our design expertise it allows our creative processes to evolve and provide pragmatic unique designs that are 100% buildable.
A couple of my favourite projects designed for builders’ own homes are “Bayside Bows” and the “Batman House”.

Check out the Batman House video from the builder’s perspective.

17 January 2017 /

I’m often asked what I’d consider to be key design points to obtain an innovative, sustainable design resolve.

Well, actually my number one key point is Site Orientation and an extensive Site Analysis.
A sustainable design is responsive to its location, climate zone, topography and importantly its micro climate zone which will vary with every site.

So, if you are looking for a new site in Tasmania then you have a major benefit compared to other States of Australia.
That is, keep searching until you find a site that has unobstructed northern/north-eastern vista without any over-shadowing.
Yes, Tasmanians are spoilt with lots of options so it is important not to underestimate the importance of this fundamental key consideration.

In 2017 four Clever Eco Series homes, will be built, all with varied family requirements, locations and specific design criteria, however all have the number one key point – Orientation with free solar gain access with internal Thermal Mass Storage for the cool temperate climate zone.

In fact, client number one searched in his ‘backyard’ for 3-4 years prior to purchasing the ‘perfect site’ which had an existing old 1950’s weatherboard home.
We relocated this existing dwelling to a new site and our number one Clever Eco Series is now well underway and will be an exemplar open display home later in 2017.

Keep posted for the next key point…

A simple analogy I often use is “If you had to live in a cave for a week in Tasmania’s winter, would you choose a South or North facing cave?”

05 August 2016 /

Clever Design recently won “Excellence in the Use of Steel” at the prestigious Victorian BDAV Building Design Awards.

The Batman House design responds to the site complexities and cues taken from the landmark “cable-stayed” Batman Bridge directly aligned in the background.
Fundamental to the design are the exposed steel bones bearing the tensile architecture which articulates the expressive quality of the use of various steel components.
Selected for its structural integrity, durability and minimal maintenance, the steel was utilised to minimise the bulk and load bearing of traditional double story construction, and at the same time resolve the site soil classification issues.

We love pushing the boundaries of convention and this design provides openness and depth whilst visually connecting and engaging with the magnificent vista and landmark bridge.
The structural components of our builds are integral to our holistic design intent from the very 1st design trigger and always comprehended throughout every twist and turn of our brainstorming process.
We then take this to the max using our 3D software BIMx to model every structural member in our projects to enable full comprehension of the design intent and build.

A huge thanks to the team members involved with Mike in this project, Jaime Jimenez, Rob Booth and Structural Engineer- Mark Gardner.
An enormous congrats goes to the Builder- Elysium Constructions & Developments and their ‘Steely’ Travenco for executing the challenging build to precision.