Central Coast-based company Evolving Construction has taken out the Home of the Year award at the 2023 HIA-CSR Hunter Housing and Kitchen & Bathrooms Awards.
The company also took out the Custom Built Home of the Year and Custom Built Home under $2M categories with a project that neighbours call the “elegant fortress”.
Four other Central Coast-based businesses also took out awards.
The award for Custom Built Home under $1.4M went to Turrell Building Services while Blairbuild Building picked-up the award for Custom Built Home over $3M.
Planit Kitchens won Kitchen of the Year and Kitchen over $60,000.
Valletta Homes took out three awards – Project Home over $600,000, Spec Home of the Year and Bathroom under $30,000.
Evolving Construction Director Kane Harrison said the company was based at the southern end of the region and does a lot of work around Pearl Beach, Hardys Bay and Empire Bay.
“This particular home we built at Pearl Beach,” he said.
“It was a bit of a shock to win, to be honest – but it was fantastic.
“It is really nice to have your work appreciated and having the effort we had put in noticed was a real accolade.”
Harrison said the company had been around for 25 years, completing homes up and down the Central Coast and in country areas such as Mudgee and Bellingen with a major focus on sustainability.
“Now we are totally focussed on the local area,” he said.
“This particular home is of timber with a predominantly steel structural skeleton.
“We used a huge amount of timber treated in different ways to give a nice aesthetic appeal.
“We used a Japanese technique to char certain timbers and let others grey off and age naturally.
“We used black stain on the timber flooring.
“We also mixed various stains for different brown shades.
“We used natural materials in certain ways to emphasise the character of the home and increase its aesthetic appeal.
“We also took advantage of the beautiful views with a rooftop balcony overlooking Broken Bay and tried to highlight the natural feeling inside the home.”
Harrison recalls that at the start of the project, an abandoned beanbag left on the side of the road posed an environmental hazard to the small village.
“We arrived for work one Monday morning and beans were spilling across the road from this beanbag,” he said.
“It had been left by the side of the road and we think a rat had chewed through it, spilling beans on to the road (and potentially blowing them into the water).
“It could easily have been an ecological nightmare for such a pristine area.
“We started cleaning it up with vacuum cleaners because our emphasis had for so long been on environmental management and sustainable homes.
“We like to integrate those ways of construction into high-end homes and then get the aesthetics to work in conjunction with that.
“In the end people from all over the place came to help with the cleanup.”
Harrison said the company’s staff fluctuated from 8-9 people to 12-15 at different times.
“We use all local tradespeople,” he said.
The awards were announced on October 21.
Judged by industry professionals, the best of the Hunter and Central Coast’s residential building industry were selected as winners in 33 separate categories.
Against strong competition the judges said the winning home showcased “the highest quality materials, fixtures and fittings in each room and exceptional craftsmanship at every turn”.
“The home will forever be a testament to the passion, resilience and craftsmanship of the Evolving Construction team,” they said.
HIA Hunter Executive Director Craig Jennion said HIA members are dedicated to achieving the very best workmanship and standards in every project they undertake.
“HIA’s Awards provide a tremendous opportunity for our members to showcase their projects and highlight building and design excellence,” he said.
“HIA is delighted with the exceptional quality of entries and level of competition this year.
“In a year that has thrown up many challenges all winners and finalists should be proud to have reached the pinnacle of excellence as demonstrated in these awards.”
Overall winners in major categories will now represent the HIA Hunter region at the HIA-CSR Australian Housing Awards in 2024 to compete for national titles against winners from other HIA regions.
Terry Collins