Destination Living

DEST INAT ION L I V ING infrastructure; have an architect come on board to run that office; and we have builders that are geographically located in the northeastern suburbs and the southern suburbs areas close to the projects. It makes a more efficient business for them if they don’t have to travel too far. We get approached by builders all the time and when we have a project in an area, we start months ahead and look for a group of builders that we can bring on board if we need to and then bring them into our business model.” Eighty or ninety percent of the firm’s projects are knock-downs and that’s purely from a client- driven process. Alex Hill, Architectural Director, clarifies, “Once you drill into what a client wants and is trying to achieve, then what you end up with is either a compromised design which possibly has a lot more unknowns from a budget perspective, or if they knock down they obviously get to start afresh. So most of them end up choosing that path whether they came in to do a new house or a renovation. Green building from our perspective is just good design. Putting windows in the right spot; shading windows when they need to be shaded; providing natural ventilation – all those key design elements is Architecture 101, which if you aren’t doing right, you’re not doing quality architecture. Everything beyond that in terms of solar panels, solar batteries, insulated wall systems are all add-ons. So for us it’s start with the basics first and then improve from there.” Technology is at the heart of the process as far as making it easier for the consumer and delivering a better product. Destination Living implemented VR three years ago into their system and that’s how they explain and deliver architecture to the client. From a design standpoint, VR has been invaluable for giving the client a full understanding and experience of the space, what they’ll see from particular angles. “It gives this love and excitement for the