Osney Avenue

Ivanhoe

Osney Street was our “upgrade project” — moving from early developments into the Ivanhoe market. But instead of a smooth transition, the timing placed us right in the middle of COVID: rising construction costs, disappearing trades, uncertain house prices, and no clear picture of where the economy was heading. Selling the site was one option; waiting was another. But one truth guided us: building costs never go backwards. So we pushed forward.

Designing Forward, Even When Times Don’t

The team around us changed almost overnight. Our builder — reliable, steady, someone we had great success with — retired suddenly due to COVID. The estate agent who previously gave us excellent results became too busy. We had to start again: re-evaluate builders, analyse capability properly, step deeper into design, and protect the project from the cost blowouts that hit so many developments at the time. Even after signing a contract that already felt high, costs continued rising through construction, creating months of negotiation and discomfort — but we held the line and kept the project moving, finished at a price now seems cheap.

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The site itself had challenges too, including its frontage to the Road Zone. We worked closely with Council to shape solutions that balanced constraints with a strong architectural outcome. When the house was finally built, it stood as a mix of persistence, strategy, and resilience. With the market still uncertain, we kept our options open: sell if prices were right, or hold and live in it if they weren’t. Today, the home is both our residence and our office — a symbol of lessons learned, decisions made under pressure, and what it means to see a project through even when the path isn’t easy.