Waverley House Project | Acacia Joinery

Client Needs

The clients, a young family, envisioned a home that would nurture connections - between each other, to the home, and with nature. The brief called for space to grow, play, and come together, balanced with moments of solitude and reflection. A strong relationship with the landscape was central to the design, allowing nature to play an active role in daily life.

At the heart of the home is a central open core that branches into multiple directions, introducing varied levels, double-height voids, and visual connections throughout. This space also brings together the home’s rich material palette, creating a layered architectural expression.

A key feature of the home is its suite of custom-designed and crafted windows and doors in NSW Spotted Gum by Acacia. These include a range of multi-fold, double-hung, fixed and sliding windows, as well as hinged and sliding doors - each custom designed to meet the architect’s detailed, creative vision.

Challenges

The manufacture of the windows and doors for this project involved complex customisation. A key challenge was the integration of deep reveals up to 355mm and rebated sills, which required precise detailing to maintain clean lines and ensure proper function. Visual consistency was also crucial, with internal frames needing to maintain a uniform 42mm thickness.

Several elements, including timber pelmets for concealed blinds and integrated cavity flyscreens, were built into the window frames, demanding extremely fine tolerances. Frameless corner units added further complexity, requiring specialised glazing solutions to maintain structural integrity without visible framing.

Custom head and transom details accommodated highlight glazing above several door sets, while other units included concealed cavity retractable screens within splayed split reveals, all of which required intricate fabrication and coordination.

Solutions

Close collaboration between Acacia, the architects, and the build team ensured that the precise detailing required for key design features, such as deep reveals, concealed blinds, custom glazing, and frameless corners, was successfully achieved. Detailed shop drawings helped resolve design complexities in advance, while precision manufacturing ensured every element met the project’s exacting standards.

Given the limited site access and minimal storage space on site, production was broken down into four defined stages that aligned with the build timeline. Many of the large, custom-designed frames were delivered flat-packed and assembled on site, a process that required precise planning and a high level of craftsmanship to achieve the architect’s detailed vision.

Outcome

The reimagined Waverley House is a joyful, light-filled home - complex in design yet warm and nurturing in function. Old and new elements are seamlessly integrated, creating a cohesive blend of heritage and contemporary forms. The result is a functional family home, perfectly in tune with the lives and needs of its occupants.

Awards

The home is already gaining significant attention for its outstanding design. To date, the project has been shortlisted for a number of awards including:

2025 AIA NSW Residential Architecture Award – Houses (Alterations & Additions) – Shortlist
2025 AIA NSW EmAGN Project Award – Shortlist
2025 Houses Awards – House Alteration & Addition over 200sqm – Shortlist
2025 Australian Timber Design Awards - Finalist
2025 Interior Design Excellence Awards (IDEA) – Residential Single – Shortlist

“Build by Design worked closely with Acacia at our project Wiley, in Waverley, to manufacture and supply highly detailed Spotted Gum windows and doors. After working with Acacia on a number of projects, we have found that Acacia’s knowledge base, attention to detail, and superior quality of workmanship from initial design, shop drawings, craftsmanship and manufacturing to be cutting edge and a pleasure to work with.”

Steven Cavanagh, Build by Design, Project Manager

Waverley House

Project Details

Project Overview