Thomas Archer Hue 42 Bayside Build - 2020/21

Hi

thanks for your detailed post looks great. We are in a very similar position with you, having just had our tender discussion recently. Just decided to create an account after spending so much time on here reading only.

Just 2 comments / questions from me:
- We spent a lot of time discussing garage width with them as I think their standard is 5.5m internal, which I think is the size of yours. We finally were able to increase to 5.9m and even then I think it's still 100-200mm smaller than what i'd like. I measured out my current and its 5.9m, but that doesn't allow you to have both cars with their doors open fully. Just something you may want to consider.
- I see that you are installing your benchtop post handover. Is there a reason for this? cost?

thanks

Is that standard 5.5m just for the Hue? We are looking at the Evoke and it is definately over 6m wide.

Hi

thanks for your detailed post looks great. We are in a very similar position with you, having just had our tender discussion recently. Just decided to create an account after spending so much time on here reading only.

Just 2 comments / questions from me:
- We spent a lot of time discussing garage width with them as I think their standard is 5.5m internal, which I think is the size of yours. We finally were able to increase to 5.9m and even then I think it's still 100-200mm smaller than what i'd like. I measured out my current and its 5.9m, but that doesn't allow you to have both cars with their doors open fully. Just something you may want to consider.
- I see that you are installing your benchtop post handover. Is there a reason for this? cost?

thanks

congrats on progress. If you don't mind me asking, who did you use for the swimming pool and did TA not do a house set out prior to the pool being dug to ensure position is accurate?

the only other point i'd note is given the pool is now 1m closer to the house, is the engineering of the house still adequate? We have ours located 300mm from house and as a result had extra engineering requirements for the slab. I'm not an engineer so not sure where the cut off point is re this.

Also onto another fun topic - wine room!
We have decided to proceed with Vine and Vault based in Park Orchards. They are a husband and wife team and can do the full 360 for wine fit outs - temp controls, wine racking, custom joinery, fit outs and LED stripe lighting.
We will be getting them to do mammoth french steel double glazed doors (190mm Wide x 2700mm high) - we quoted this out to quite a few steel vendors but decided it is better to keep suppliers minimal and their prices were competitive. They can also do oxidised glass which will be better for the wine and a lock for when our daughter is a little older
We will be getting the INO25 temp control (it is a beast so we'll have to be creative with how we hide it), single standard bottle racking (with potentially a shelf between for display) and LED lights. Because of the 3m ceilings we can fit 1600 bottles in there - might take a while to fill up (although if you saw the hoarders state of our front room with all my husbands wine purchases you wouldn't think so!).









The wine room is our little splash out for the house but its something that we both love and will be great from an entertainers perspective!

Amazing - can I ask the size of the space that you have for the wine room that would accomodate the 1600 bottles? We're about to start with TA as well and rather than having something specific, our plan is to convert a small WIL cupboard to a mini wine storage area. We had larger and more ambitious plans and then budget got in the way....

So we went with their Hue floor plan (their bayside compliant floor plan) with a few mods. Originally, we wanted a 44 sq house but due to our block and relating council restrictions we ended at 42sq (mainly due to reducing size of upstairs because of raised ceiling heights). The main must haves for us was a flexible floor plan that can be adapted as our newish family grows and evolves, enough space to allow for backyard & pool, a wine room (this was the only way to get husband over the line to build instead of buy), high ceilings, a fairly simple and timeless aesthetic and lots of natural light.






We went with the C4 façade which is very similar to the owner’s ‘The Gallery’ façade. We'll be doing this in a Silkwort render contrasted with Black Shadowclad.

House Design/Upgrades

General
· Refrigerated Heating & Cooling.
· European Engineered Oak Flooring – Made by Story ‘Sesame’
· 3m ceilings downstairs, 2.6m upstairs. All door heights increased to match.
· Square Set downstairs, coved cornice upstairs.
· Brushed Chrome Hardware
· Shower to be included in powder room downstairs so can convert current Rumpus/Playroom to bedroom in future if need. Pool and functionally easier with a child also.
· R3.1 insulation between floors for sound proofing.
· Finger pull cabinetry throughout house.
· 2000L slim line water tank plumbed to outdoor and 3 x toilets.
· Trenching of gas line for future BBQ area next to alfresco.
· Pre wiring for future solar panel installation.

Kitchen/Dining/Living
· increased height to have 2.7m high sliding doors throughout dining and living area double glazed.
· 4.5m Extra large sliding doors next to dining room
· Appliances – Bosch 2 x Black Oven, Induction (To be installed post handover), F&P induction.
· Bar Area to be created next to fridge.
· Wine Room coming off Dining Room – fit out to be complete post handover featuring black steel French doors. Higher grade internal insulation to be done by TA for regulating air temperature.
· Feature paint to fridge, bar and wine room.
· Polytec black timber joinery to be installed in living room across length of wall.
· Quantum Quartz Superwhite Porcelain Island Bench in kitchen (to be installed post handover) – 40mm edging & 200mm legs.
· Laminex white drawers and Polytec black timber overhead cabinetry.
· Additional window along kitchen splash back to allow for more natural light. Landscaping to be done along side walls so lots of lovely greenery to look out to.

Upstairs/Bathrooms
· WIR changed to BIR for additional room in some Bed 2+3.
· Joinery in activity area.
· Convert all showers to frameless and additional tiling throughout bathrooms.
· Include ledges in bathrooms.
· Upgrade carpet to S4 – Carpet Court Country Texture in Indie colour.

Here's a few rough images of some of the colours we chose.

I stole this one from their instagram - its not our house but similar finishes and tones (stone, carpet, laminate, floorboards).


Powderroom Downstairs:



Laundry:



Kitchen, Living + Dining: Black overhead cabinetry (and bar joinery), Superwhite stone, Sesame floorboards, Ghostgum drawers, black joinery in living room.



Bathrooms:



And here are a few 3d elevations we have of the living, dining and facade (the doors to the wine room will be larger than image and installed post handover -hoping to get black french steel doors).

May I know how much the cost was to upgrade to a C4 facade?

A lot! The most expensive façade that isn't custom?
How good does it look though!

I'm not sure if the prices have gone up as these were 2019 prices but it was $12.5k for C3 and $17.5k for C4 so $5k difference. Worth every penny in my opinion but I also highly rate both C3 & C4 facades!
A house on our current street has the C3 facade if you want to see it in flesh (Nevile St), it is literally around the corner from the Gallery so you can compare the two. There's also another house close by that has the C2 facade in Bentleigh East (Cavalier St). I think if you're going with TA its worth investing in their facades as it does help them feel more architectural compared to the other volume builders!

Thanks for the info! That seems to be a good price as I was told for other volume builders, the facade upgrade can go up to 30k. The facades are actually what made me like TA. Once we are out of this lockdown, hoping to check them out.

We also went with the C4 facade earlier this year and it was a $17.5k upgrade. We really liked it, but, to be honest, of their pre-designed facades my favourite is probably the S3, which is quite a bit cheaper. However, that didn't suit our layout or our site orientation.

Yes there are two different ranges - C & S. The S range is where the entry is on the side - it is floor plan dependant as to whether you choose from an C or S range. I agree with the comment above - S3 was LOVELY and would have definitely chosen this if we had a S style floorplan. When you see the sales guys they can explain the different facades to you...who knows...there might be some more new facades they can show you too!