House CC · design handbook

A big house, folded into 92 square metres

Two bedrooms and a study, two bathrooms, a 38 m² great room with a fireplace, 2.7 m ceilings, a 21 m² garage. One fixed shell, three interiors, two kinds of lot.

Request the feasibility read Go to the floor plans

Dwelling: 91.2 m² outer frame
Main block: 11.0 × 7.5 m + 3.1 × 2.8 m bay
Garage: 3.5 × 6.0 m clear · 21 m²
Bedrooms: 2 + study
Bathrooms: 2
Ceiling: 2.7 m throughout
Delivery: 2 modules + 1 bay pod + garage kit
Class: NCC Class 1a · single storey

Design render — AI concept view of the fixed front, not a survey drawing

Why this house

The rules the shape was drawn to

Every line answers a constraint real Melbourne lots impose: a 3 m driveway, a rear boundary 2 m behind the wall, a garage on the boundary, a second dwelling that still reads as a home from the shared court. The luxury is in what the 92 m² are spent on.

One great room

38 m² of kitchen, dining and living in one volume under a 2.7 m ceiling, with a 2.8 m sliding door to the garden strip.

The fireplace is the address

A slim gas fireplace in a stone panel on the north wall, on axis with the front door, a window either side.

Bedrooms at opposite ends

Nobody walks past a bedroom to reach the living room. The master suite has the bay: dressing room and ensuite.

Borrow the study

A desk under its own window in Plan A, a glazed 4.2 m² room in Plan B, a nook in the bay in Plan C. Never a lost bedroom.

A corner portico, open two ways

Open to the court and to the driveway, which is why the garage sits 1.1 m behind the façade — and why the same entry works when the garage moves.

One roof, separate kit

The skillion runs across house and garage as one plane. No internal door, so the garage can sit beside, behind or between houses. Every wet room sits in the south module; the north module has no plumbing.

The east side — sliding door, deck, private strip

“It is not a compromise version of a bigger house. It is the bigger house with the corridors removed.”
Joey Don, DollarBuild

Site fit

Drawn for two lots at once

Same shell, same bay, same corner entry. Only the garage kit and the direction you arrive from change.

18 × 32 m, existing house kept at the front, 3 m driveway up the west side

Scenario 1 · The backyard lot

The rear wall sits 2 m from the back boundary (1 m sewer easement plus 1 m buffer), the garage on the west boundary, the bay toward the shared turning court. Every window facing the court is a highlight with a 1.5 m sill; the living room and the master look east onto a 3.1 m private strip.

Lot: 18 × 32 m = 576 m²
Driveway: 3.9 m strip, 3.0 m clear beside the front house
Rear clearance: 1 m easement + 1 m buffer = 2 m
Turning court: 7.8 × 3.9 m, shared with the front carport
Private open space: 3.1 × 11.4 m = 35 m², off the living room
Garage: West boundary, door facing the driveway

18 × 56.67 m, the same module repeated four times down a 3 m driveway

Scenario 2 · Four in a row

The corner portico faces the driveway, the garage kits pair up between the houses with their doors to the 5 m widenings, and every house keeps its 3 m strip and its bay. The 6 m front setback and the 4 m mid gap are the pockets where the code’s canopy trees fit.

Lot: 18 × 56.67 m = 1,020 m²
Driveway: 3.0 m, widening to 5.0 m at the garage pairs
Garages: Two pairs between the houses, doors to the driveway
Front setback: 6 m, two canopy trees
Mid gap: 4 m between house 2 and 3 — bay clearance and a tree pocket
Rear: 2.67 m: 1 m easement + 1 m buffer + planting

What the plan needs from a lot

Width behind the front house: 18 m — 3.9 garage + 11.0 house + 3.1 open space
Depth for the house zone: 13.3 m — 2 m rear + 7.5 m house + 2.8 m bay + a 1 m walk
Driveway: 3.0 m clear; the garage is end-on to it, no turning bay at the door
Turning court: About 4 m deep in front of the house when the court is shared
Crane: A lift path over or beside the front house — checked before anything is ordered
Services: Sewer and stormwater fall to the rear or the side, water and power up the driveway

The plan mirrors: driveway on the east means garage east, bay west, from the same drawings.

North is not fixed. The living room glazes east and north; on a north-facing street the mirror keeps the sliding door on the sunny side.

Floor plans

Three interiors, one shell

The external walls, the windows, the garage and the bay never move. Only the internal walls do.

Choose a plan

WallWindowHighlight window, sill 1.5 mDoorSliding doorFireplaceModule joint

External walls 200 mm, internal 90 mm. Clear internal dimensions unless marked as outer frame. Room areas are computed from the drawing; the outer frame is 91.18 m² for the dwelling and 24.96 m² for the garage.
W01, W02 and W03 face the shared court and are highlight windows with sills at 1.5 m.

Plan A — the view from the entry passage

The great-room plan

Plan A · Hearth

38 m² of kitchen, dining and living in one volume, the fireplace on axis with the front door, a desk under the north window, and the master suite with its dressing room and ensuite in the bay.

Owner-occupiers, downsizers, premium long-term tenants

—Great room 7.3 × 3.6 m plus an 11.7 m² kitchen zone with a 2.4 m island
—Master 3.2 × 3.4 m, east window to a screened courtyard, dressing room and ensuite in the bay
—Bedroom 2 3.2 × 3.6 m with a 2 m built-in robe, beside the entry
—Study desk 1.8 m long under its own window
—Bathroom off the hall with the stacked washer and dryer

Room schedule

Entry	5.1 m²
Bathroom	5.1 m²
Bedroom 2	11.5 m²
Kitchen	11.7 m²
Living · dining	26.3 m²
Master	10.9 m²
Dressing	3.1 m²
Ensuite	3.6 m²
Great room (kitchen + living + dining)	38.0 m²
Internal floor area, rooms only	77.3 m²
Dwelling outer frame	91.2 m²
Garage clear	21.0 m²

Exterior

The front does not change

Garage door 1.1 m back, timber corner portico, two highlight windows under the eave, the bay projecting 2.8 m. The classic Melbourne unit — garage, porch, bay — in white board, timber and black steel.

House CC front — Front elevation from the court — design render

The mirrored plan — garage east, bay west

The rear — 2 m planted strip, services corner

The master courtyard behind its batten screen

Garage, recessed

3.9 × 6.4 m kit on the west boundary, front wall 1.1 m behind the façade, matte charcoal sectional door 2.75 × 2.1 m.

Corner portico

1.7 × 1.3 m, open south and west, timber battens on walls and soffit, a 150 mm corner post, solid timber door. 2.2 m² covered.

Highlight windows

Three horizontal windows, sills 1.5 m, heads 2.4 m — bathroom, kitchen, ensuite. Light in, court kept private.

The bay

3.1 m wide, 2.8 m deep, roof 0.3 m lower than the main eave; a large obscure window on its east side.

One roof plane

Skillion falling 3° to the rear: 3.0 m eave at the front, 2.62 m at the back, concealed-fix steel, box gutter on the low edge.

The east side

The 2.8 m sliding door and a timber deck onto the 3.1 m private strip; the master window onto a screened courtyard.

South elevation — the court side

Drawn from the geometry that generates every other diagram on this page. Heights above finished floor level.

External materials

Cladding: James Hardie Scyon™ Axon™ 133 mm vertical-groove fibre cement, painted white, non-combustible
Roof: BlueScope Colorbond® concealed-fix steel, Monument, 3° skillion
Fascia and gutter: Colorbond® Monument, box gutter on the rear edge, two downpipes
Windows: Black aluminium, double glazed, AS 2047; obscure glass to bathroom windows
Portico: Spotted-gum battens on walls and soffit, solid timber entry door 1000 × 2100
Garage door: Sectional panel door, matte charcoal, 2750 × 2100
Deck: Timber deck 2.8 × 1.8 m off the living slider, timber batten screen to the master courtyard

Roof plan

One plane over house and garage, falling north; the bay carries its own lower flat roof. The portico is under the main roof.

Details

Box gutter and downpipe at the rear corner

Interiors

What the 92 square metres are spent on

Matte white walls under 2.7 m ceilings, engineered oak floors, white joinery with stone-look tops, black tapware and frames, the fireplace in a stone panel. Design intent, not photographs of a built house.

Living room and the glazed study — Plan B

Kitchen under the highlight window — Plans A and B

L-kitchen with the north window — Plan C

Dining nook under the highlight — Plan C

Master in the quiet north-west corner — Plan C

Bedroom 2 with its ensuite and nook — Plan C

Design renders — AI concept views

Prefab and factory

Two modules, one pod, one kit

The south module carries every wet room and the kitchen; the north module carries the bedrooms and the great room and has no plumbing; the bay is a pod; the garage is a flat-pack kit. That split keeps transport, craneage and factory work simple.

Module split

The joint runs along the spine wall at y = 3.65 m: a flashed roof seam, a floor cover strip, two wall junctions. Nothing structural crosses it.

Module 1 · southWet module
11.0 × 3.75 m, 3.5 m high
Portico, entry, bathroom with laundry, kitchen, master bedroom
All supply and waste plumbing except the ensuite. One stack at the bathroom / kitchen wall.
Module 2 · northDry module
11.0 × 3.85 m, 3.5 m high
Bedroom 2, great room, study, fireplace
Electrical and gas only. The flue and the sliding-door head are the only penetrations.
Bay podWet pod
3.1 × 2.8 m, 3.2 m high
Dressing room (or study nook), ensuite
Tiled and fitted in the factory; two doors into the bedroom behind it.
Garage kitDry kit
3.9 × 6.4 m, 3.4 m high
Single garage, meter board on the front wall, switchboard inside
Panelised, assembled on site so it can sit beside the house or between two houses. Shares the roof plane, not the structure.

From slab to handover

01
Feasibility
Street width, overhead lines, crane position and the lift path over the front house. If the lift does not work, the same drawings are built as a kit.
02
Slab and services
Slab poured, sewer, water and power brought to the module positions while the modules are built.
03
Factory build
Frame, cladding, roof, wet areas, joinery, electrical and paint indoors, with stage inspections.
04
Transport
Two 11 m modules at 3.75 m wide under oversize permit with a pilot; the pod and the garage kit on a third truck.
05
Crane day
Module 1, module 2, then the pod. Usually one day.
06
Connect and hand over
Roof seam flashed, floor strip laid, services connected, garage kit assembled, occupancy certificate.

What the factory receives

—Module envelopes: M1 and M2 at 11.0 × 3.75 m, 2.7 m floor-to-ceiling, roof falling 3° across the pair; pod P1 at 3.1 × 2.8 m
—Wet-services schedule: bathroom (with laundry) and kitchen in M1 on one stack; ensuite in P1; nothing in M2
—Window and door schedule dimensioned from the module corner — identical in all three plans
—Internal wall set-out per plan, the only drawing that differs between A, B and C

Transport envelope

Module width: 3.75 m — oversize, permit and pilot
Module length: 11.0 m
Travel height: About 4.3 m on a low loader
Pod: 3.1 × 2.8 m, standard load
Garage: Flat-pack panels, standard load

Specification

The numbers behind the drawings

Areas

Main block, outer: 11.0 × 7.5 m = 82.5 m²
Bay, outer: 3.1 × 2.8 m = 8.7 m²
Dwelling, outer frame: 91.2 m²
Garage, outer / clear: 25.0 m² / 21.0 m² (3.5 × 6.0 m)
Dwelling + garage: 116.1 m² outer
Covered portico: 2.2 m², inside the frame
Ceiling height: 2.7 m throughout
Roof: Skillion, 3.0 m front eave falling to 2.62 m

Window and door schedule

Tag	Room	Face	Size (w × h)	Sill	Note
D01	Entry	South, in the portico	1000 × 2100	—	Solid timber, black lever handle
D02	Garage	South, garage front	2750 × 2100	—	Sectional panel door, matte charcoal
D03	Living	East	2800 × 2400	0	Double-glazed sliding door to the deck
W01	Bathroom	South	1900 × 900	1500	Highlight, obscure glass
W02	Kitchen / dining	South	2300 × 900	1500	Highlight
W03	Ensuite	South, bay front	2300 × 900	1500	Highlight, obscure glass
W04	Ensuite	East, bay side	1800 × 900	1200	Obscure glass
W05	Master / bedroom 2	East	2000 × 1500	900	To the screened courtyard
W06	Living	North	1100 × 1500	900	East of the fireplace
W07	Living	North	1100 × 1500	900	West of the fireplace
W08	Study / kitchen	North	1600 × 1500	900	Desk window in A and B, sink window in C
W09	Bedroom 2 / master	North	1600 × 1500	900
ID	Internal	—	820 × 2040	—	Bathrooms 720; study slider 1000 glazed

Finishes and services

Structure: Australian MGP10 H2 termite-treated pine frame to AS 1684 on an engineered slab; steel-frame option for the modules
Insulation: R2.7 walls, R6.0 ceiling, sarking to walls and roof
Internal walls and ceilings: 10 mm plasterboard, wet-area board in bathrooms, flush 2.7 m ceilings
Floors: Engineered oak to living areas and bedrooms; 1200 × 600 porcelain to wet areas
Kitchen: Full-height pantry, integrated fridge space, 60 cm induction and concealed rangehood, silica-free stone-look benchtop; 3.2 m bench + 2.4 m island (A, B) or L-kitchen + 2 m island (C)
Bathrooms: Walk-in showers with fixed glass panels, wall-hung toilets, floating vanities, black tapware, 1200 × 600 tiles floor and wall
Laundry: Stacked washer and dryer in the main bathroom, tap and waste on the wet-module stack — no laundry in the hall
Fireplace: Slim balanced-flue gas fireplace in a stone panel on the north wall; electric option where gas is not connected
Heating and cooling: Split-system air conditioning to the great room and both bedrooms; 160 L heat-pump hot water on the north side
Electrical: LED downlights, three power points and a data point per room, meter board on the garage front, switchboard in the garage

Planning fit

Drawn to the standards, not around them

At 91 m² House CC is a full second dwelling, so a two-dwelling site goes through a planning permit assessed against Clause 55, the Townhouse and Low-Rise Code in force since 31 March 2025. The plan was drawn to that code’s deemed-to-comply standards. Every site is still assessed individually; nothing here is an approval.

Standard	What it asks	How the plan answers it, Scenario 1
Permit trigger	A second dwelling over 60 m² needs a planning permit.	Two dwellings on 576 m², assessed under Clause 55. The 60 m² small-second-dwelling pathway is a different product.
B2-3 Side and rear setbacks	Single-storey walls: at least 1 m from side and rear boundaries.	Rear wall 2.0 m (1 m easement + 1 m buffer); east wall 3.1 m.
B2-4 Walls on boundaries	10 m + 25% of the remaining boundary; average 3.2 m, max 3.6 m high.	The garage’s 6.4 m west wall is the only wall on a boundary, 3.0 m high.
B2-5 Site coverage	65% in GRZ, 60% in NRZ.	80 + 22 + 91 + 25 = 218 m² = 38% of 576 m².
Minimum garden area	30% for a 501–650 m² lot in GRZ / NRZ; driveways and courts do not count. Mandatory.	About 236 m² of garden remains — about 41%.
B2-7 Tree canopy	10% of a lot of 1,000 m² or less; one tree in the front and one in the rear setback.	58 m²: one Type B tree in the front setback, Type A trees in the side strip; the rear tree sits at the north end of the open space because the 2 m strip is too narrow for deep soil.
B3-2 Parking location	Habitable windows within 1.5 m of a shared accessway: sill at 1.5 m or a 1.5 m solid fence.	Every window facing the court is a highlight with a 1.5 m sill.
B3-4 Entry	A ground-level door with a line of sight from the accessway, not through a garage, under 1.44 m² of cover.	The corner portico is visible from driveway and court, sits beside the garage, covers 2.2 m².
B3-5 Private open space	25 m² secluded, at least 3 m wide, off a living area.	3.1 × 11.4 m = 35 m² off the sliding door.
B3-6 Solar access	Open space set back (2 + 0.9 h) m from any wall to its north.	The strip has no wall to its north.
B3-7 Functional layout	Main bedroom at least 3 × 3.4 m; other bedrooms 3 × 3 m.	Master 3.2 × 3.4 m (A, B) or 3.2 × 3.6 m (C); bedroom 2 at least 3.2 × 3.0 m clear.
B5-5 Waste	1.8 m² individual bin store, 0.8 m deep, or a shared store.	0.8 × 2.3 m store on the west strip beside the garage front, screened from the court.
Clause 52.06 Car parking	One space for a two-bedroom dwelling; a single garage 3.5 × 6 m clear.	Garage 3.5 × 6.0 m clear, end-on to the driveway.

Scenario 2 differences

Four dwellings on 1,020 m² change two numbers: garden area rises to 35% (lot over 650 m²) and canopy doubles to 20% (lot over 1,000 m²) — hence the 6 m front setback, the 4 m mid gap and the 3 m side strips. Meeting every standard with the zone as the only permit trigger removes third-party review at VCAT under the current code; an overlay or one unmet standard brings the merits assessment back.

These notes describe what the plan was drawn to. They are not a planning assessment of any lot and not a promise that a permit will be granted.

Buyers and tenants

Plans and interiors first; the walk-around for the outside.

Floor plans

The factory

Module split, window and door schedule, finishes. Openings never move between plans.

Prefab

Delivery partners

Site fit for slab, clearances and services; the crane path is the first feasibility item.

Site fit

Co-investors

One shell for two kinds of site; one drawing set; the standards it was drawn to.

Planning

FAQ

Is House CC a granny flat?

No. At 91 m² it is above Victoria’s 60 m² small-second-dwelling exemption, so on a backyard lot it is a second dwelling assessed under Clause 55 with a planning permit. It has a garage, two bathrooms and a master suite — a small house, not a granny flat.

Why is the living room 38 m² when the whole house is 92 m²?

No corridor, and the bathroom, laundry tower and kitchen packed into one south band. Bedrooms take 22 m², bathrooms and the dressing room 12 m², the entry 5 m². The rest is the great room.

Why are the front windows so high?

The court in front is a vehicle area shared with the front house. The code asks for a 1.5 m sill on habitable windows within 1.5 m of a shared accessway, so the three court-facing windows are highlights. The rooms that need the view look east.

Does the garage have a door into the house?

No, deliberately. A detached kit can sit beside the house on a backyard lot or between two houses in a row, and the roof plane ties it to the house visually. If a site wants an internal door, the entry hall’s west wall is where it goes.

How does it arrive?

Two 11 × 3.75 m modules, a 3.1 × 2.8 m bay pod and a flat-pack garage kit, craned onto a pre-poured slab in about a day. Where a crane cannot reach, the same drawings are built as a kit on site.

Which plan should I pick?

A for the biggest great room; B for a real office with a door; C for a square lounge and a second bedroom with its own ensuite. We do not publish rent or price figures on this site — the proposal for a specific address carries them.

Put House CC on your lot

Send the address. The feasibility read tells you whether the shell fits, which scenario applies, which approval pathway the site takes and whether the crane can reach.

CC-A · Plan A · Hearth