Good Design Award winner in the Architectural Design category

Luxury Modernist Inspired Design

Old meets timeless – a renovation with a modernist sensibility

Building Designers SUNSHINE COAST

Vibe Design Group – Building Designers offering Luxury Modernist-inspired Design services on the Sunshine Coast.

Designers who combine beachside luxury with a distinctive modernist approach – the choice of building designer for your next Sunshine Coast project. From National Building Design of the Year to the pages of the New York Times, Vibe Design Group is one the most awarded Building Designers in Australia. Offering services Australia wide from Melbourne to the Sunshine Coast, Brisbane, Sydney and beyond.

Moat’s Corner, wins Australia’s coveted Good Design award for design excellence in the Architectural Category

Vibe Design Group’s, Moat’s Corner received a prestigious Good Design Award Winner Accolade in the Architectural Design category in recognition for outstanding design and innovation. The Good Design Awards Jury praised Moat’s Corner commenting:
“The modernist architectural style and light-filled rooms deliver a very high quality internal environment that sits in the rural environment beautifully. This modernist inspired house is carefully designed to engage with its garden at every opportunity.”
The Good design Awards Jury

FEATURED PROJECTS

Sunshine Coast building design integrating biophilic principles, inspired by a ‘modernist architectural style.’

With full regard to sustainable practices and generational design, Vibe Design Group has long embodied Biophilic Design Principles that seeks connection with the natural world – embracing a human desire to feel linked to the beautiful Sunshine Coast environment and in turn enhancing our daily living experiences.

PORTFOLIO

Journey through the exterior and the interiors of our past projects — see selected works in our 4 part portfolio series with images and project insights throughout.

OUR BUILDING DESIGN PROCESS

The four elements of a successful building design.

01

The site

We enjoy working on projects Australia-wide. The information obtained through the initial site visit and analysis will form the basis of the design direction. This first site visit is an exciting time in the project and can provide us with key aspects and design direction – like a portal view to distant coastline or forest. We map these view lines and soak in all the opportunities the land has to offer.

02

The client

The opportunities given by our Sunshine Coast clients who are seeking to maximise their projects potential is one that we greatly enjoy. The budget is always an important point to discuss and is considered throughout the design process. With a full understanding of our client’s wish list, we create a hierarchy of the most important features and take every opportunity to include them.

03

Sustainability

Designing on the Sunshine Coast is the ultimate opportunity to embrace our core philosophy of biophilic design principles, where inside and outside the home we hero the natural environment and connect with it at every opportunity.

Energy efficiency measures, considered embodied energy, and the buildings life cycle are key to providing longevity and generational qualities through good design.

04

Our experience

With over 30 Years experience Vibe Design Group has forged a method of detailing site information and forming connections with clients that has allowed our studio to offer services Australia wide. The Sunshine Coast is a beautiful part of Australia which we are pleased to offer our full design service; seeking unique opportunities and challenges with a full understanding that every site will require an individual design response reflective of our client’s wish list and the surrounding landscape.

Michael & Kathryn genuinely invested time in understanding our lifestyle and how we want to live in our home. They created not only warm and inviting spaces, but a home that functions beautifully for our large family.

Maree Hyland, Hyland House

Sunshine Coast Building Designers - picture of Pool with fence

Frequently Asked Questions

Vibe Design Group are building designers with extensive experience designing homes Australia-wide. Talk to us about your Sunshine Coast project.

How much does it cost for home design and documentation?

Design studios’ fees are typically a percentage-based amount derived from a percentage of the budget. This amount would then be altered upon learning the builder’s costs.

To spare our clients the worry of potentially higher costs due to an increased build budget, we prefer to offer a lump sum fee for design and documentation, allowing you the security of an up-front cost for each stage of the process.

An honest and open conversation prior to undertaking the design of your home is recommended. Because, in reality, most budgets do not correspond with clients’ wish lists; knowing that there is alignment between the budget and your wishes is essential early on.

It is not feasible to state an exact amount for the price of new home construction for your Sunshine Coast home. Even square metre calculations are to be wary of—they are solely estimations. But based on extensive experience and knowledge from past projects, as well as a broad understanding of materials and labour costs, we can approximate a budget for construction.

However, the building cost for a project in the Sunshine Coast can be influenced by many different factors, including, but not restricted to:

  • House (location, size, heating/cooling, electrical detailing, finishes, number of levels, interior/exterior materials, and construction method)
  • Room sizes and wall placement—determine truss or beam spans (in homes that are conservative in design with smaller room sizes, there is less demand on structural members, which helps with price)
  • External finishes—should suit the environment and intended design outcome, ultimately giving the home a low maintenance edge into the future (for instance, a coastal home exposed to the elements would require certain material selections that would prove to be a must for its longevity; there are many materials to choose from, all with different cost implications, and even wind exposure can determine a different installation method for the same material)
  • Land (location, slope stability, soil conditions, environmental conditions, even proximity to services)
  • From the ground up the soil conditions will determine how the engineer designs the footings, things like size and depth even concrete strength can change for any given site.
  • Sunshine Coast homes that are to be built near forested areas would also be subject to the BAL (Bushfire Attack Level) rating which may increase some material cost.

In conjunction with these, there are numerous additional factors that make estimating the cost of construction difficult (such as flooring, tap ware, interior finishes, cabinetry, and sanitary fittings, just to name a few). Therefore, we suggest talking with a credible and trustworthy Building Designer or Architect regarding the specific conditions and demands of your project, rather than seeking a broad approximation for the cost of construction.

For a casual assessment of the condition of your current home and the work required to make good to create the base for a successful alteration or addition, speaking to a builder would provide you with a basis of information.

However, a Building Designer or Architect will have a knowledge of the various Queensland council regulations and would be able to propose a possible design solution given your home’s existing state.

In most cases, we would advise against staying on your Sunshine Coast property during the construction of a renovation or addition. When a client remains on a property undergoing works, it tends to strain the relationship between client and builder.

Conversely, by giving better property access to the builder, you can improve the time and cost management of your project, which can help to offset the cost of your temporary accommodation.

While it does ultimately depend on the scale of works being done to your existing dwelling, finding a short-term place to reside during construction is recommended.

In general, the design and documentation process takes roughly 3 to 6 months, and building can take 10 to 18 months, both contingent on the size of the project.

However, this is not a guarantee, as each stage may vary in duration. For instance, the time it takes for a project to be reviewed and approved by the Noosa Shire Council or Sunshine Coast Council is typically the most significant time factor to acknowledge when undertaking a project, and the duration of this process can fluctuate.

The size and complexity of a project will also influence the design and building time frames— a renovation may get through council in a shorter period than a proposition for a new residence.

Risks of being an owner builder in Queensland:

  • no access to home warranty insurance through the QBCC scheme
  • potential for costly mistakes due to lack of experience
  • legal liability for construction issues
  • difficulty managing subcontractors
  • potential for worksite injuries
  • need to secure comprehensive insurance coverage to mitigate risks like damage, accidents, and theft during construction

In Queensland, the risks of being an owner builder depends on the scale and complexity of a project. While you can complete basic development as an owner builder with success, projects of greater scale and detail present many risks.

When employing tradespersons personally, you depend upon unregistered practitioners to manage your build or renovation. This creates potential for errors, resulting from a lack of experience, that can prove costly. Moreover, as an owner builder, you will have no access to home warranty insurance through the QBCC scheme, and will be legally liable for any or all construction issues that may arise.

Ultimately, we recommend the use of a registered builder when completing the construction of your project.

The skills and services available to clients are identical between Building Designers and Architects. Nonetheless, they differ between practices.

To decide on which Building Designer/Architect to engage with, it is important to find a practice whose work appeals to you. Look at their past projects to determine if their style corresponds with your wish or vision. The right designer should supply samples of their previous work with past clients, describe their process (unique to their practice), and make you feel at ease in pursuing your project.

It is imperative that you find a connection with and feel a sense of trust towards the Building Designer/Architect you enlist to undertake your project; a strong professional relationship between client and designer will produce a superior design solution.

A sustainable home is a home that is designed to minimise its impact on the environment—its aim is to offset running costs with solar as well as water storage, this is a standard in accordance with the star rating system, but there can be much more to wholistically consider. 

Such houses harness environmentally friendly materials in their construction. This can be done through regrowth forests or low embodied energy production.

Sustainable homes have always been the benchmark for esteemed design firms. Insufficient value is placed on the connection between us as humans and the environment; there is not enough importance assigned to how our buildings and architectural surroundings make us feel, in both approach and living within. For that reason, a truly sustainable house should exceed the current minimum 7 star energy rated dwelling.

We believe in designing for the future through thoughtful planning and selection of materials, creating homes that will be truly generational.

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