Six standalone homes bring a clean, gable inspired design

Set on the Glendowie border and backing onto Paddington Reserve, this development features six freestanding, three and four-bedroom homes designed to feel considered rather than crowded, despite the density of the site. “We were going for a standalone, minimalistic design with a hint of gable feature,” says John Gao of North Island Design. “That was really the starting point for the whole project, something clean and contemporary, with just enough detail in the gable to give the elevations some depth.”

With six homes on one site, material consistency and build speed mattered as much as the look of the homes. North Island Design specified Hardie™ fibre cement cladding across the board, using a combination of Oblique™ Weatherboard and Axon™ Panel Grooved 133mm to bring the gable forms and simple, planar surfaces of the design to life. “What led us to Oblique™ Weatherboard specifically was two things, we needed a fire-rated system, and we wanted a cleaner finish than a lot of the alternatives could give us.

We did look at a vertical shiplap timber finish as a cladding option, but when you’re building six homes at once, keeping things simple matters. Going with Hardie™ fibre cement cladding across the whole site meant one system, one set of details and one supplier. It just makes construction more straightforward to manage.”

Fire performance and acoustic separation between dwellings were key considerations from the outset. By specifying Oblique™ Weatherboard, installed vertically and GIB® Fyreline® as detailed in the Fire and Acoustic Design Manual by James Hardie, the homes achieved the required fire resistance and acoustic performance without compromising the minimalist aesthetic envisioned for the development.

Durability and low maintenance were equally non-negotiable. “The client was all about speed. Needing to get these homes designed, built and onto the market efficiently, so the materials had to keep up with that. That meant they needed to be durable and low maintenance from day one, because nobody wants to be back on site fixing cladding issues after handover.” 

The focus on efficiency extended to the build itself. “Honestly, we didn’t get much back from the builders in the way of construction queries, and in this industry that’s a good sign. If a cladding system is causing problems on site, you hear about it pretty quickly. The fact it was all fairly quiet tells you it went together the way it was supposed to.” 

The result is a development with a clean, gable-accented street presence, finished consistently in Oblique™ Weatherboard and Axon™ Panel Grooved 133mm across all six homes. The project is a reminder that in medium density housing, the right cladding system can do double duty - meeting the compliance demands of a multiunit site while delivering an attractive, cohesive result at scale.