OWN A MELBOURNE MASTERPIECE BY BYRON'S RECORD-BREAKING ARCHITECTS

Their exquisite attention to contemporary detail recently earned Melbourne-based architects, Workroom Design, ultimate bragging rights after a home they crafted broke a new price benchmark in Byron Bay.

Now there is a chance for Melbourne design lovers to buy their very own Workroom home in Hawthorn – at half the cost of the Byron pad.

That prestige beach pile just sold for $33.5 million, snapped up by Chemist Warehouse billionaire couple Damien Gance and Sasha Robertson. However, the newly listed Workman creation at 73 Kooyongkoot Rd in Hawthorn is on the market with Kay & Burton Boroondara via an expressions of interest campaign guide of $13 million to $14 million.

The Mediterranean-inspired five-bedroom, six-bathroom residence might be a world away from famed Belongil Beach but the acclaimed architects still met the brief with the same level of expert detail and finishes.

Surrounded by lush landscaping by Ben Scott, the Hawthorn home is a modern marvel with a striking sculptural façade, a thoughtful layout and carefully considered touches from chevron oak herringbone flooring and Italian porcelain tiling, to stucco Veneziano walls, marble surfaces and fluted glass detailing.

Beyond a covered front patio and formal foyer, the large lounge room has a striking black marble fireplace, and across the hall, there is a home office with integrated cabinetry.

Down a glass gallery and north-facing central garden, the rest of the ground-floor layout reveals the everyday family zone. A sleek kitchen hosts a sculptural natural stone island bench, full suite of Wolf appliances, and built-in Sub-Zero refrigeration. A hidden butler’s pantry with all the trimmings has a door to the side garden, offering easy access for caterers.

The adjoining dining and family rooms feature expanses of north-facing windows for loads of natural light, and a covered outdoor room is the perfect spot for all-weather barbecues and alfresco entertaining beside the heated pool.

Further options for gatherings with family and friends include a lower level gold-class home cinema and a custom-designed showcase wine cellar with sculptural curved detailing.

In addition to a guest bedroom on the lower ground floor, the upper accommodation level has four more bedrooms and a multipurpose living room.

Each bedroom has an ensuite and built-in storage, however the palatial main bedroom wing is an oasis with a vast dressing room, a private terrace and a grand bathroom with circular freestanding bath, steam room and custom-designed vanities.

The long list of added extras elevates the house to a dream home, thanks to inclusions such as a lift to all three levels, a six-car garage, hydronic heating, ducted air-conditioning and vacuuming, an alarm, and CCTV surveillance.

Located in the coveted Scotch Hill enclave of Hawthorn, the tree-lined street is characterised by its stately residences and enviable position close to Melbourne’s leading private schools including Scotch College, as well as parklands, transport, and popular shopping precincts such as Camberwell Junction, Glenferrie Road, and Auburn Village.

Expressions of interest for 73 Kooyongkoot Rd, Hawthorn close 3 April at 5pm Scott Patterson, Ross Savas and Jamie Mi of Kay & Burton Boroondara.

Australia’s housing crisis will not be solved by first-home buyer incentives or tax changes alone, with leading property figures warning governments must tackle supply constraints if affordability is to improve.

Speaking at the Kanebridge Quarterly Property Leadership Summit in Sydney last week, expert project marketing specialist Sam Elbanna, property investor and fund manager Paul Miron and property consultant Karla McNeice said that a lack of housing supply remained the central issue facing the market.

Elbanna, Director of CPM Realty with more than 30 years’ experience in project sales, argued that successive governments had focused too heavily on stimulating demand rather than addressing the barriers preventing new housing from being delivered.

“The misconception is that politicians think the way to solve the housing crisis is to drive demand,” he said.

“The reality is that’s not the way. This is a supply-side problem, and it needs to be solved on the supply side.”

Drawing on his experience in project sales, Elbanna said policies designed to help first-home buyers often had unintended consequences, pointing to previous grants that ultimately flowed through to higher property prices.

Instead, he said developers were facing increasing red tape, approval delays and rising costs, which were discouraging new housing supply.

“In the absence of stock, demand exceeds supply,” he said.

Miron, a Co-Founder and Fund Manager of Msquared Capital, said the housing debate had become overly focused on tax policy while overlooking broader structural issues.

He argued that affordability challenges stemmed from a combination of factors, including planning constraints, supply shortages, migration levels and interest rates.

“No-one can be 100 per cent certain on the real reason for property prices is going up,” he said.

“The reason why property prices are higher is a combination of interest rates, lack of supply, migration, vacancy rates and maybe taxes play a role.”

Miron was critical of recent federal housing policy changes, warning they could reduce the number of new homes being built and further constrain supply that was even highlighted in the budget.

He also highlighted the importance of the property sector to the broader economy, noting that residential real estate and related industries employed more than one million Australians.

McNeice, who advises developers on sales strategy and market intelligence, said understanding buyers had become increasingly important as affordability pressures intensified.

While affordability remained a major consideration, she said today’s buyers were focused on value rather than simply price.

“People are looking for value for money,” she said.

She said buyers were increasingly evaluating factors such as transport connections, walkability, nearby amenities and flexible living spaces that could accommodate changing family needs.

“What infrastructure is going on? Can I walk to the shops? Can I meet people at the local cafe?” she said.

The panel also discussed the mounting pressures facing developers, with Elbanna arguing that many projects become financially unviable from the moment a site is purchased.

“The viability of a development happens at the moment the site is bought,” he said.

He said rising construction costs, higher interest rates and overly optimistic feasibility assumptions had left some developers exposed as market conditions changed.

While acknowledging the growing number of smaller and first-time developers entering the market, Elbanna said property development required expertise across finance, construction, marketing and legal disciplines.

“It is actually a business that requires a level of expertise,” he said.

Looking ahead, the panel agreed opportunities remained in the market despite current challenges.

Miron said property should continue to be viewed as a long-term investment and cautioned against trying to time short-term market movements.

McNeice said success would increasingly depend on identifying projects that genuinely met changing buyer expectations.

Elbanna said affordable housing remained achievable, but developers needed to deliver more than just homes.

“We can provide affordable housing in this country,” he said.

“But we’ve got to wrap that affordable housing with the things that people want.”

As Australia’s housing affordability debate intensifies, the panellists agreed on one point: without a meaningful increase in housing supply, demand-side measures alone are unlikely to solve the nation’s property challenges.

OWN A MELBOURNE MASTERPIECE BY BYRON’S RECORD-BREAKING ARCHITECTS

From a record-breaking beach house in Byron to a modern Melbourne dream home, the creative team at Workman Design is turning heads.

Australia’s housing affordability crisis is being fuelled by chronic undersupply, planning delays and rising development costs, as politicians continue to focus on the wrong solutions.