Beach House Designs
Custom-built beachside and waterfront homes for Brisbane, Gold Coast and Sunshine Coast
“Most people who have built end up saying ‘that was a nightmare,’ etc. For us, we hope to have the chance to build another home with Civic Steel, as it was a very good and happy building experience.”
Tacqui, Noosa Canal Zen
Waterfront Home Designs
Are you dreaming of living with waterfront views in a casual sanctuary you call home?
Innovative beach house designs
Our Architect-Builder is an expert in residential design and can translate what you want into a home that functions beautifully and leaves you breathing easy at the end of the process.
With warmer temperatures on the coastal strip you can enjoy outdoor living and dining all year, but the success of your outdoor living depends on how you control seasonal cold winds and breezes.
We design your home for the local climate and for practical daily use. This includes access from the pool to bathrooms, easy use outdoor showers as you arrive home from the beach, good connection from kitchen to BBQ, informal access to your outdoor living for your visitors…and more.
LET’S DISCUSS YOUR
DESIGN IDEAS
We’re online 8:00am – 4:00pm, Monday-Friday
Before we even begin to put pencil to paper, our in-house Architect and
your Project Manager will conduct a free onsite consultation
to discuss crucial aspects with you such as:
Local climate
Coastal areas can be exposed to high winds and weather from the southeast. Canal blocks can have a microclimate of breezes coming off the water. Our early design ideas will revolve around the best way to orient your home to give you great outdoor living, weather protection and still grab the best views to water and coastline.
Low maintenance
If you are close to the surf or canal frontage, you want to enjoy the water, not worry about long-term maintenance issues and salt damage. We specify materials in detail for our trades and have researched the best performing claddings and finishes to help keep your maintenance list short.
Timber frame
If you’re building right on the surf, within 300m of the sand, we’ll be working in timber frame and working with materials for a marine grade environment. We can advise you on fittings and finishes that will perform well and provide fully detailed drawings for timber frame construction.
Casual living
Living near the water gives you the opportunity to make the most of maximum outdoor living and a casual approach to the planning and style of your home. Our designs revolve around easy access and a no fuss way to enjoy the good times with fresh air, winter sun and plenty of outdoor dining with friends and family.
Coastal Wind Rating
It’s important to assess the engineer’s Wind Rating on your site before design begins. We want to design your home for the right balance between the amount of bracing required in the framing, and the maximum glass to open to the outdoors. Roofline and fixings will also play a part in assessing the costs and options.
Coastal Soil Types
We assess your soil type early on as this will influence how best to design for sandy, clay or rocky sites. Beachside homes that are sitting mostly on sand will need different engineering considerations for piering and slab design.
Steel frame or timber frame
If you’re within 300m of breaking surf, what does that mean? Besides being the envy of all of us!
It means that the Building Code of Australia says you must build in timber frame. Civic Steel Homes are masters of both steel AND timber construction and we’ll work with the best option for your beachside land.
And if you’re further than 300m from the sand, our steel frame supplier will provide a 50 year warranty on your steel frame.
Building with low maintenance materials
We also have our list of preferred materials and details for ‘marine environments’ to keep your – maintenance list short and your beach time long!
Where a salt water environment can make maintenance an ongoing task, we detail your home in claddings that have performed well for us over time; we fully galvanise and paint any structural steel or posts; we include the latest technology in decking treatments to withstand sun and weather damage; we specify fixings in detail to our trades so that no corrosion arises down the track;
With our Design & Build process, you can spend more time with sand between your toes and less time worrying about architect’s fees, prime cost items, product research and conflicting quotes.
If you’re building on canals or beachfront in Brisbane, the Sunshine or Gold Coast, why not take advantage of our FREE on-site meeting. Call to get us on site and see your new home ideas take off from your very first meeting.