Residential design across the Inner West, from Leichhardt and Balmain to Marrickville and Ashfield. Terrace and cottage renovations, additions and dual occupancies on tight urban sites.
The Inner West covers Balmain, Leichhardt, Annandale, Glebe, Newtown, Marrickville, Dulwich Hill, Ashfield and Summer Hill, mostly within Inner West Council, with Glebe under the City of Sydney and the Canada Bay and Burwood council areas to the west. The housing is dense and old: Victorian terraces, workers’ cottages, Federation semis and inter-war bungalows on narrow blocks, often with party walls and rear lanes.
Those blocks set the design problem. There is little room to grow sideways, so additions go up or back, light and ventilation have to be found from the rear and above, and the relationship to neighbours is close. Heritage conservation areas cover large parts of the Inner West, so the street frontage is usually kept and the new work sits behind it. Some lower-lying streets around the Cooks River and the Hawthorne Canal are flood-affected, which sets floor levels.
We design and document terrace and cottage renovations, rear and upper-level additions, and dual occupancies or secondary dwellings where the lot allows, usually as a council DA. Our recent Glebe project is one example. The builder of your choice builds from a set prepared for tight sites, where access and staging matter as much as the design.
Every project starts with a clear read of the local planning controls and the likely approval pathway, then design and documentation developed in parallel so the drawings price and build as intended.
Residential design and documentation built with approvals and construction in mind from day one.
Building Design & Drafting in Inner West →Granny flats and secondary dwellings designed for clarity, compliance and repeatability across sites.
Secondary Dwellings in Inner West →Extensions and renovations designed to integrate seamlessly with the existing home.
Additions & Alterations in Inner West →Dual occupancy design that balances planning controls, site constraints and market appeal.
Dual Occupancies in Inner West →Approval-ready documentation aligned with the right planning pathway.
DA & CDC Documentation in Inner West →Clear, coordinated drawings prepared for pricing and construction.
Construction Drawings in Inner West →Coordination with engineers, certifiers and other consultants as required.
Consultant Coordination in Inner West →Before a design is fixed, the underground services on the block need to be found and the site surveyed. LCG Locating, part of the LCG group, maps utilities and scans concrete across Inner West, so the survey, the locate and the drawings come from one team.
Yes. The usual approach keeps the front rooms and facade and places the new work at the rear, below the existing ridge or set well back from the street. Council assesses it on a DA, and a design that respects the terrace row is generally supported.
From above and from the rear: a courtyard or lightwell, roof glazing, and living areas moved to the back where the aspect is open. The plan is reorganised so the deep middle of the house is not left dark.
On some. It depends on the zone, the minimum lot size in the LEP and the frontage, and many Inner West lots are below the threshold. We check this first, and a secondary dwelling is often the alternative.
They need care. The structural engineer and the drawings deal with the shared wall, and the neighbour relationship is managed through the DA process. It is a routine part of Inner West work.
Send through your site details and a note on what you are trying to achieve. We will come back with the right approval pathway and next steps.
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