House CC-80 · design handbook

The same house, folded into 80 square metres

Two bedrooms, two bathrooms, a 28 m² kitchen-living room with a fireplace, 2.7 m ceilings, a 21 m² garage. A plain 10 × 8 m rectangle, three interiors, two kinds of lot.

Request the feasibility read Go to the floor plans

Dwelling: 80.0 m² outer frame
Main block: 10.0 × 8.0 m · no bay
Garage: 3.5 × 6.0 m clear · 21 m²
Bedrooms: 2 · study in Plan B
Bathrooms: 2
Ceiling: 2.7 m throughout
Delivery: 2 identical modules + garage kit
Class: NCC Class 1a · single storey

Keep the front house, add one

Lot: 18 × 29.9 m = 538 m² · keep the front house, add one
Garden area: ≈ 224 m² · 42% (30% required)
Tree canopy: 10% = 54 m² · lot at or under 1,000 m²

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

Why this house

The rules the shape was drawn to

The 80 answers the same Melbourne constraints as the 92 — 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 — inside a rectangle that ships as two identical modules.

One room for living

28 m² of kitchen and living across the whole north band, 4.5 m deep, 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 between two windows, on axis with the entry hall.

A plain rectangle

10 × 8 m and no bay. Both bathrooms sit inside the south band, so the shell is two 10 × 4 m modules and nothing else.

Bedrooms at opposite corners

The master in the south-east corner beside its ensuite; bedroom 2 in the north-west beside the entry. Nobody walks past a bedroom to reach the living room.

A corner portico, open two ways

Open to the court and to the driveway, which is why the garage sits 1.6 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 only the kitchen sink.

The east side — sliding door, deck, 4 m private strip

“Take the bay off the 92 and put both bathrooms inside the rectangle. What is left is the house most lots can actually take.”
Joey Don, DollarBuild

Site fit

Drawn for two lots at once

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

18 × 29.9 m, existing house kept at the front, 3 m driveway up the west side

Selected

Scenario 1 · Keep the front house, add one

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 portico toward the shared turning court. The three court-facing windows are highlights with 1.5 m sills; the living room and the master look east onto a 4.1 m private strip.

Lot: 18 × 29.9 m = 538 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: 4.7 × 5.6 m, shared with the front carport
Private open space: 4.1 × 10 m = 41 m², off the living room
Garage: West boundary, door facing the driveway

17 × 57.2 m, the same module repeated four times down a 3 m driveway

Scenario 2 · Knock down, build four

The corner portico faces the driveway, the garage kits pair up between houses 1–2 and 3–4 with their doors to the widenings, and every house keeps a 3 m strip on the east. At 972 m² the lot stays under 1,000 m², so the canopy standard stays at 10% while garden area rises to 35%.

Lot: 17 × 57.2 m = 972 m²
Driveway: 3.0 m, widening to 5.5 m at the garage pairs
Garages: Two pairs between the houses, doors to the driveway
Front setback: 6 m, a canopy tree and the bin store
Mid gap: 2 m between house 2 and 3 — a tree pocket, no bay to clear
Rear: 2.0 m: 1 m easement + 1 m buffer

After — House CC-80 behind the front house

What the plan needs from a lot

Width behind the front house: 18 m — 3.9 garage + 10.0 house + 4.1 open space
Depth for the house zone: 11 m — 2 m rear + 8 m house + 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 4.7 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 and the sliding door 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 and the garage 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 80.0 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.

The L-kitchen plan

Plan A · Hearth

The whole north band is one 28 m² room: an L-kitchen on the west and north walls with a 1.8 m island, the lounge at the fireplace end with the 2.8 m sliding door, a table for four by the master wall. A desk under the north window makes bedroom 2 the study.

Owner-occupiers, downsizers, premium long-term tenants

—Kitchen-living 6.3 × 4.5 m = 28 m², the fireplace between two north windows
—L-kitchen 2.7 m deep with a 1.8 m island and two stools
—Master 4.0 × 3.0 m with a robe wall, the ensuite beside it, an east window to a screened courtyard
—Bedroom 2 3.2 × 4.5 m with a 2 m robe and a 1.6 m desk under its own window
—Bathroom off the hall with the stacked washer and dryer

Room schedule

Entry	6.4 m²
Bathroom	4.4 m²
Ensuite	2.8 m²
Master	12.0 m²
Bedroom 2	14.4 m²
Kitchen	12.2 m²
Living	15.8 m²
Kitchen-living (kitchen + living + dining)	28.0 m²
Internal floor area, rooms only	67.9 m²
Dwelling outer frame	80.0 m²
Garage clear	21.0 m²

Exterior

The front does not change

Garage door 1.6 m back, timber corner portico, three highlight windows under one eave, a plain 10 m wall in white weatherboard. No bay: the 80 makes its front with proportion, not projection.

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

The rear — 2 m planted strip, four windows

The master courtyard behind its batten screen

Garage, recessed

3.9 × 6.4 m kit on the west boundary, front wall 1.6 m behind the façade, rear wall flush with the house, matte charcoal sectional door 2.75 × 2.1 m.

Corner portico

1.7 × 1.3 m, open south and west, vertical timber boards on walls and soffit, slim timber posts, a timber door with a glass sidelight. 2.2 m² covered.

Highlight windows

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

No bay

A 10 × 8 m rectangle: two identical modules, one roof plane, no pod. Both bathrooms sit inside the south band.

One roof plane

Skillion falling 3° to the rear: 3.0 m eave at the front, 2.58 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 4.1 m private strip; the master window onto a screened courtyard at the front corner.

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 Linea™ 180 mm horizontal weatherboard, 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: Vertical spotted-gum boards on walls and soffit, slim spotted-gum posts, timber entry door with a glass sidelight
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 portico is under the main roof; there is no bay roof to flash.

Details

Box gutter and downpipe at the rear corner

One roof plane over house and garage, 1.6 m recess

Interiors

What the 80 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

L-kitchen with the north window — Plan A

The dining room under the north window — Plan C

Bedroom 2 with its desk — the study in Plans A and C

Design renders — AI concept views

Prefab and factory

Two modules and a kit

Two identical 10 × 4 m modules: the south one carries the entry, both bathrooms and the master; the north one carries bedroom 2, the kitchen and the living room. No pod. The garage is a flat-pack kit.

Module split

The joint runs along y = 4.0 m, through the kitchen-living room: a flashed roof seam, a floor cover strip, two wall junctions. Nothing structural crosses it.

Module 1 · southWet module
10.0 × 4.0 m, 3.5 m high
Portico, entry, bathroom with laundry, ensuite, master bedroom
Both bathrooms on one stack at the bathroom / ensuite wall.
Module 2 · northDry module
10.0 × 4.0 m, 3.5 m high
Bedroom 2, kitchen, living, fireplace
The kitchen sink is the only plumbing; electrical and gas otherwise. The flue and the sliding-door head are the only penetrations.
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 10 m modules at 4.0 m wide under oversize permit with a pilot; the garage kit on a second truck.
05
Crane day
Module 1, then module 2. Usually half a 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 identical at 10.0 × 4.0 m, 2.7 m floor-to-ceiling, roof falling 3° across the pair
—Wet-services schedule: bathroom (with laundry) and ensuite in M1 on one stack; the kitchen sink 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: 4.0 m — oversize, permit and pilot
Module length: 10.0 m
Travel height: About 4.3 m on a low loader
Modules: 2 — no pod
Garage: Flat-pack panels, standard load

Specification

The numbers behind the drawings

Areas

Main block, outer: 10.0 × 8.0 m = 80.0 m²
Bay: None — a plain rectangle
Dwelling, outer frame: 80.0 m²
Garage, outer / clear: 25.0 m² / 21.0 m² (3.5 × 6.0 m)
Dwelling + garage: 105.0 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 2.58 m

Window and door schedule

Tag	Room	Face	Size (w × h)	Sill	Note
D01	Entry	South, in the portico	950 × 2100	—	Timber door with a glass sidelight, 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	1700 × 900	1500	Highlight, obscure glass
W02	Ensuite	South	1100 × 900	1500	Highlight, obscure glass
W03	Master	South	2800 × 900	1500	Highlight
W05	Master	East	2000 × 1500	900	To the screened courtyard
W06	Living	North	900 × 1500	900	East of the fireplace
W07	Living	North	900 × 1500	900	West of the fireplace
W08	Kitchen / study / dining	North	1600 × 1500	900	Sink window in A, study window in B, dining window in C
W09	Bedroom 2	North	1600 × 1500	900	Over the desk
ID	Internal	—	820 × 2040	—	Bathroom 720, ensuite 700; 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; L-kitchen + 1.8 m island (A) or 4.1 m galley (B, 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 living 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 80 m² House CC-80 is above the 60 m² small-second-dwelling exemption, 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 538 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 4.1 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.	79 + 20 + 80 + 25 = 204 m² = 38% of 538 m².
Minimum garden area	30% for a 501–650 m² lot in GRZ / NRZ; driveways and courts do not count. Mandatory.	About 224 m² of garden remains — about 42%.
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.	54 m²: five Type A trees = 63 m², one in the front setback; 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.	4.1 × 10 m = 41 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 4.0 × 3.0 m; bedroom 2 3.2 × 4.5 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 in the 1.6 m recess in front of the garage, 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 972 m² change one number and keep another: garden area rises to 35% (lot over 650 m²) while canopy stays at 10% because the lot is under 1,000 m² — the reason the row is drawn at 17 × 57.2 m rather than a larger lot. 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

Two identical module envelopes, one window and door schedule, one finishes list. 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-80 a granny flat?

No. At 80 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 fireplace — a small house, not a granny flat.

What did the 80 give up against the 92?

The bay and the dressing room. Bedrooms and bathrooms are the same count; the kitchen-living room is 28 m² instead of 38; the study is a desk in bedroom 2, or the enclosed room in Plan B. Both bathrooms sit inside the rectangle, so the shell ships as two identical modules with no pod.

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 10 × 4 m modules and a flat-pack garage kit, craned onto a pre-poured slab in about half 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 room and an island; B for a real office with a door; C for a dining room and a square lounge. We do not publish rent or price figures on this site — the proposal for a specific address carries them.

Put House CC-80 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.

CC80-A · Plan A · Hearth