Building Design Studio
Design that Defines
Spaces
Gold Coast · Brisbane · Tweed Heads & Northern NSW · Melbourne & Victoria
Current Work
Multi-dwelling design, documented for approval — NSW, QLD & VIC
The Difference
Same building. Three rulebooks.
The outcomes you are actually buying — approvals that move, budgets that hold, no expensive surprises at certifier stage — depend on knowing exactly which rulebook your site answers to. A rooming house is “rooming accommodation” in Queensland, a “registrable rooming house” in Victoria, and sits under different state policy again in New South Wales. Same building, three different sets of traps. This practice is Registered & Licensed with QBCC & VBA and documents projects across all three states — so when your next site is over a border, you are not paying for your designer's learning curve.
Queensland
QBCC Registered
Rooming accommodation, dual occupancy and townhouse pathways assessed under council planning schemes — with documentation prepared to the standard QBCC licensing demands.
Caboolture townhouses →Victoria
VBA Registered
Clause 55 assessment, rooming house registration, and the Class 1b versus Class 3 question that decides fire safety and room count. Our case studies name the councils and the clauses.
Ringwood case study →New South Wales
Practising Across NSW
DA and complying development pathways, where state policy rather than council discretion sets the assessment — a different risk profile to either Queensland or Victoria.
Terranora residence →Weighing sites in different states? We assess both under their own rules — Cross-Border Site Comparison →
How A Project Actually Moves
From question to approval.
Three images, one pipeline: first the site is tested, then the building is documented, then the design is real. Every service we offer lives somewhere on this line.
01 — Test the site
Feasibility before fees: zoning, yield and the deal-breakers — answered before documentation money is spent.
02 — Document for approval
Permit drawings a certifier can assess and a builder can price — without repeated requests for information.
03 — Build the outcome
The documented design, delivered — dual occupancy in Robina, one of thirteen current projects across three states.
Start Where You Are
Your stage decides the service.
Nine services is a menu, not an answer. Where your project sits in the approval pathway tells you which one you actually need — and if it doesn't, our first reply will.
02
Own the site, need the design
Dual Occupancy & Townhouses →Extensions & Renovations →House Raising →Interior Design →What We Do
Building Design across
Queensland, New South Wales & Victoria
Feasibility Assessments • SDA & NDIS Housing • Building Permit Drawings • Extensions & Renovations • House Raising • Rooming Houses • Dual Occupancy & Townhouses • Commercial & Warehouse
Gold Coast · Brisbane · Sunshine Coast · Hervey Bay · regional QLD · Northern NSW · Victoria
Feasibility Assessment
Site, zoning, overlays, constraints and approval pathway — independently assessed before you commit to full drawings.
SDA & NDIS Housing Design
Certifier-ready SDA and NDIS housing design documentation for providers, investors and builders.
Building Permit Drawings
DA, CDC, planning permit and building approval drawings across NSW, QLD and VIC.
Extensions & Renovations
Extensions, carports, decks, verandahs, granny flats and renovation approval drawings.
House Raising
Raise designs, flood response and approval documentation for Queensland and Northern NSW homes.
Rooming House Design
Permissibility, Class 1b and Class 3 design and approvals for rooming house investments.
Dual Occupancy & Townhouses
Yield-driven duplex, dual occupancy and townhouse development design — feasibility to permits.
Featured Projects
Work that has been through the process.
Terranora, Tweed Shire NSW
Terranora Residence
A residence designed for a sloping Tweed hinterland site.
Caboolture, Moreton Bay QLD
Caboolture Townhouses
Multi-dwelling townhouses for a Moreton Bay growth corridor.
Rosebud, Mornington Peninsula VIC
Rosebud SDA Housing
Class 3 SDA housing documented through to approval stage.
Eumemmerring, VIC
Eumemmerring Rooming House
A purpose-designed rooming house under Victoria's registration framework.
Airlie Beach, Whitsundays QLD
Airlie Beach Apartments
Apartment design for a market where the outlook is the asset.
Ivanhoe, VIC
Ivanhoe Triplex — Oriel Road
Three dwellings on one lot, shaped by neighbourhood character from the first sketch.
How We Work
Our Process
Discovery
In-depth brief to understand your goals, site context, budget, and timeline.
Design
Concept through to full drawing set — creative, compliant, and construction-ready.
Approvals
Compliance checks against NCC, local planning codes, and relevant Australian Standards.
Delivery
Final drawing set issued — ready for permit lodgement and construction.
In Their Words
What clients report, verbatim.
A process you can follow
“informed/updated of every single thing in advance”
Asif N. · room addition & permits · Google
“Thank you so much for helping us out as we couldn’t understand the process”
Sampson M. · Google
Easy to deal with
“professional, patient and easy to deal with”
Alan P. · outdoor kitchen · Google
“smooth and easy to deal with”
Sadiq H. · Google
Design that fits the brief
“We wanted something modern but still in keeping with our home in Melbourne, and they nailed it”
L.M. · Google
“they did our full reno after buying our first home. highly recommend”
Rishoban · Google
Start Your Project
Ready to Build
Something Great?
Whether you're planning a new home, transforming an existing space, or developing a commercial property — DM Design Collective is your design partner from concept to compliance.