That Question

“How much per square are your homes?” is a question we get asked often. Inevitably the questioner is making price comparisons with project homes. Such comparisons, however, fail the ‘comparing apples with oranges’ test.

Understanding the Differences

To understand our individual design and build service, it is important to know the difference between what we do and what most home builders do.

Their Way

Most builders, of a sufficient scale to display model homes, are ‘volume’ or ‘project’ builders. They display homes that you can order, unchanged, for construction on your land or, often, as a house and land package on an estate marketed by that builder.

Our Way

We serve a different market. We are not volume builders or marketers of project homes. Every home we design and build is individually designed for an individual client—and for a specific site. Our present display home in Ashburton  illustrates this point as it is designed to make the very best of the opportunities inherent in the land from the contours of the site, the orientation to the sun path, and the different use of materials and finishes.  We have also designed into our display home a low maintenance garden and large, bright interior spaces that are orientated towards the garden.

The Advantages of Scale

Australians are very well served by our dynamic project builder industry, which markets products that represent very good value for money, especially for first home buyers, and for people who have common denominator needs on standard, flat, suburban blocks. This value comes from scale. A design built, say, fifty times, has a negligible design, pricing and purchasing cost. Each home is, in effect, a unit of production, repeated many times.

The Disadvantages of Scale

People who have been down the volume route generally find that, to protect the cost benefits of scale, even quite modest design changes are either not permitted, or charged at disproportionate rates.

With standard plans you see a lot of houses that look like yours. That could be because they are exactly like yours. And of course a standard design, by definition, is not actually designed for your site. It may fit your site, and the path of the sun across your site, to perfection, but that is a matter of luck, not design. Then again, it may not fit your site at all.

The Freedom of Individual Design

There’s a phrase that highlights the difference between our way of working and that of project builders. In initial briefing meetings, client questions often begin with “Can we…?” The answer, in our case, is almost always “Yes”. “Can we have higher ceilings?” Yes. “Can we have doorways widened for wheelchair access?” Yes. “Can we have a raised roof over the living areas?” Yes. “Can we have a separate food preparation area off the kitchen?” Yes. You are the client. You get to ask.

Obviously, these questions have budget implications but our distinct business model caters for this. We are able to do so with a high degree of accuracy because our Designer Gabriel Pilarek, operates a design studio embedded within a building company, which means we are not guessing at figures—Gabriel has a very strong knowledge of construction methodology and costs. We are able to tell you whether your needs can likely be met within your nominated budget. Depending on your site and your requirements it may be that $800,000 is sufficient, or that $180,000 is not enough.

Back to Apples & Oranges

Individual design is a different business paradigm. It has a quite different set of cost inputs. It has a quite different level of personal service. At Fasham the individual attention does not end with design. It continues right through to hand over, and beyond. During construction every client is assigned a dedicated Project Manager to handle their job.

Is individual design a correspondingly rewarding owner experience? Visit the Testimonials section of this website to hear some honest insights from some of our clients.

To see and understand the importance of individual design visit our Display Home at:

22 Keyes Street Ashburton Saturday and Sunday 1-5pm or contact us to arrange a private appointment.