Naturaliste Building Co

Is double brick really the right choice for your project?

There's a reason that most of Australia has moved on from this type of build - and with brick supply across WA squeezed for months now, builders are quoting wait times that used to be unthinkable for a standard order.

Double brick is the traditional option, no doubt, but timber framing is increasingly becoming a stronger choice.

Lighter on the foundations, faster to build and easier to insulate well. Plumbing and electrical can be run far easier and quicker, and if you're after a change in future - well, it's much easier to move a wall, put in a new lighting plan or run pipes through a timber frame than cutting through brick.

Timber framing suits a wide range of styles without the mess and labour that comes with alternative methods, and doesn't mean any corners cut - a well-built timber frame just gets you to the finish line sooner.

A timber frame doesn't ask you to compromise. It just leaves more doors open, literally and otherwise.

Two families could build on identical blocks and need completely different homes.

One might need somewhere for sandy feet to come in after the beach without walking through half the house. Another might want the kitchen positioned so they can keep an eye on the kids outside, or extra space in the garage because it needs to fit a lot more than two cars.

That’s where a custom home really starts. Before the kitchen cabinets, flooring and all the decisions you usually associate with making a home your own, it starts with how you live. What your block allows, where your budget matters most and the things you know you’re willing to compromise on (and the things you definitely aren’t) are going to be different for every household.

if you're thinking about building, consider how you want the home to work for your family - the rest will follow from there.

Delivering a kitchen renovation takes more than just good taste.

Choosing the stone, the cabinetry and the tile is the easy part.

Tilers, plumbers, electricians - each one chosen for what this particular job needed, and scheduled to protect the quality of their work. Through every custom build and renovation, there's no standard layout to fall back on; every project has different challenges to solve.

The result is a kitchen that's every bit as enjoyable to use as it is to look at.

Morning light through the gums, holding their ground as the build takes shape around them on this leafy Cowaramup block.

Vertical-profile timber cladding is set into the surrounding bush, with windows placed to keep nature in view. The roofline sits low, a skillion designed to duck under the branches instead of clearing them, while the deck opens straight onto the landscape.

Excited to see this project get underway, and for the family who will get to call it home at its completion!

Still renders at this stage, with this build yet to come out of the ground.

Meet Lou, the builder behind Naturaliste Building Co.

Twenty years on the tools, trained as a carpenter in the UK, and building homes across the South West since 2014.

Drawn to the South West lifestyle and the strong sense of community, Lou and his wife Emily settled here to raise their own family - which is exactly why they understand what's at stake in building or renovating a home, and the quality it takes to get it right for a family that will grow within it.

This belief is what Naturaliste Building Co. was founded on - building should be personal, transparent, and done right the first time. Lou's on-site throughout every build, working closely with clients and trades alike, still checking the level himself.

We've just poured the exposed aggregate for the renovation on Geography Bay Rd.

What is now a grey, flat, concrete driveway, will soon be washed away to expose the aggregate underneath - a mix chosen to complement the rest of the home, as well as stand as a feature in its own right.

This close to the coast, exposed aggregate is what keeps a driveway looking the part, through years of sand, salty air and cars coming and going - the texture hiding what a plain surface never could.

Tomorrow, this stops being a driveway and starts being the way home.

This commercial fit out for a medi day spa was a chance to bring the same care we put into homes into a client-facing space, working alongside Gordon Grayson Design a few years back.

Marble-look feature walls, brushed brass tapware and sinks, sage green tiling, and a reception that sets the tone the moment you walk in - every detail here was about creating a sense of calm before the treatment even begins. From the light bar to the private consultation rooms, it's proof that our build quality translates just as well to a commercial space as it does to a family home.

Three bathrooms renovated, a deck rebuild across the whole back and front of the home, and she's still asking for more!

The deck on this project was carried out largely by Lou on his own, and still somehow finished faster than a full crew normally would.

A small thing maybe, but it stuck with the client enough to mention twice in her review - not the speed so much as the fact the attention to detail didn't drop off once, even moving that fast solo.

Some clients need one job done and that's the end of it. Others are already planning the next house before this one's even finished.

If you've got a project you've been putting off, the right builder makes it a lot less effortful than it sounds.

This ancillary build sits close to one of the busiest roads in Busselton, and that meant solving a problem before a single wall went up - how do you build something peaceful when trucks and traffic run past from early morning?

Double glazed windows and acoustic soundboard are already in, tucked into the walls while the rest of the build is still catching up around them. Once it's complete, the loudest thing inside will be the kettle.

Good acoustic design doesn't announce itself - it lets the silence do the talking.