49 Finniss Crescent, Narrabundah
A Display Home with a difference.

This project is a joint venture,  between the builder, the design team and various suppliers.  This was an opportunity for the builder to showcase the skills of his trades to the market sector that he wishes to attract to his business. 

MMM Interiors as the interior designers of this home, are using the house to launch a full interior design service not previously offered.

MMM Bathrooms Taps and Tiles as suppliers of the various  fixtures, tiles and joinery,  are looking to showcase the home to a range of sectors.

To the retail public, who may be either building a new home, extending or just renovating a single bathroom or kitchen.   The home is to be inspirational, showcasing new ideas and  materials, and  the importance of design and planning, no matter what the scale of the project.

To other professionals in the industry the home showcases the various  products supplied by the major sponsors of the home such as Hafele, Smart House, AEG  and Country Windows.  The home is to be used as a venue for functions to introduce new products, and in some cases reintroduce their products.

Marketing

The marketing objective is to promote the various businesses directly involved in the project.  Successful marketing will lead to increased sales for the Interior Designer,  the builder, the architect and the various major suppliers.  Success in this regard has already been achieved with numerous design sales directly attributed to the display home to date.

On open days, each visitor to the home is appointed a time approximately 30 minutes apart, and is then guided through the home by either the builder or a qualified designer discussing the various features and aspects  to ensure maximum results from each visitor.  Their reactions and needs are then recorded in the visitors book and followed up by the appropriate persons.

The home is being marketed in various ways.

Once a fortnight the home is advertised in the Canberra Times as open by appointment,
on  Saturday afternoons.  A special presentation folder (see attached) has been produced specifically for the display home.  The presentation folder promotes all the major parties involved in the project and provides an excellent facility for promotional brochures that visitors to the home can take with them after viewing the home. 

House and Garden magazine will be featuring various parts of the home in upcoming editions.  The house has generated a good deal of interest from a range of industry magazines and will be featured by these magazines and publications over the next 12 months.

MMM Bathrooms Taps and Tiles,  will promote this home in their showroom located in Kembla Street, Fyshwick.  A number of large posters advertise the display home and invite clients to make an appointment to view the home on open days.   
 
Major Sponsors have selected dates for trade evenings and afternoons where presentations targeting their specific contribution to the home are made.  

Features will be run throughout the year through various media,  Capital Magazine, Canberra Times, etc.,  inviting people to visit the home by appointment.
The Home – The Lifestyle.

49 Finniss Crescent, is a display home, which is designed to entice the client.  It has a atmosphere of luxury, relaxation, a sanctuary to escape to from the stresses of the day,  or hard working week. 

The home is built on four pools, that are tiled in brilliant blue glass tiles with a copper weave, which are visible from most areas of the home.  The private courtyard at the back insulates the home from neighbours, traffic, and even weather to some degree.  Large bifold doors on two different levels open the heart of the home to one open space.
Weathered white sandstone tiles flow from the entry, through the total living spaces, and external pool surrounds.  

The interaction between the internal and external kitchens ensures a close social hub between the chefs, the guests and family.

The utilities area of the home houses a Sauna, change room and toilet within a few steps of the pool.   Behind two glass frosted doors is a compact but functional laundry.  A widened corridor acts as access and space to relax in,  away from the hot sun on summer days. 

The master bedroom suite , a private sanctuary space within the home,  has the base wall in glass to one meter of the floor for a full view of the pool,  and the starry evening sky from the bed.   This window will be privatized by bi-fold screens in due course.

A large fully appointed wardrobe /dressing areas sits behind the division wall of the room,  a study/nursery space adjoins the robes,  which leads into the master en suite, which has a small Japanese garden and water feature to encourage relaxation in the manner of many of our day spas today.   The use of fine grain veneers in horizontal line,  in the bathroom,  master robes, and bedroom furnishings provides an elegant seamless joining feature of the spaces of this suite. 

The second floor of the home, entered via a spectacular bridge over the front entry, is the childrens den.  Two large bedrooms, with a play room, a study nook,  and a multifunctional bathroom.   A great retreat.  The floor of this space is a “Hebel Silent Floor”,  to keep noise intrusion to a minimum to the spaces below.  A great heat and noise insulant. 

The front lower level of the home houses the Guest Bedroom and En Suite,  Theatre Room, and Formal Dining room,  these all look on to expansive front lawns and the old trees familiar with this area of Canberra.  Two sculptural garden walls have been built to provide privacy from traffic of the street to the Theatre and Dining rooms,  without blocking light to these spaces.

The home is fitted with the latest of Smart Wiring, for entertainment, lighting and  security.  Heating options from undertile, inslab, and reverse cycle heating and cooling.  The insulation of the home is the ultimate,  from walls to ceilings, and fully double glazed windows, which insulate heat, cold and noise. 
The roofline of the house extends over the external verandahs which encircle the internal and external kitchens, providing covered entertaining and living areas to suit whatever the weather may be. 

The colour scheme of the home is harmonious from external to internal with warm rich reds used in the features to add life and warmth to both the exteriors and interiors of the home.  The use of porcelaine stone tiles as the external feature cladding and driveway finish are a functional new alternative to natural stones which may be labour intensive and not weather well over the years. 

The Architects Brief relates to the siting of the home,  and how the design of the home promotes the use of ecologically sustainable development principles.

This home has been built with incredible attention to detail,  and an exceptional amount of features,  which may take more than one visit to appreciate, and definitely more than can be related in this brief.   The aim of the home has been to inspire the visitor to create a home of their dreams, or a small sanctuary space that suits within their walls.   Looking at your home from the inside, “the lifestyle”.