Redlands based father and son building team Glenn and Dean Bolger of Castle Glenn Homes have scooped the pool at the Housing Industry Association (HIA) awards earlier this month.
Builder Glenn, and designer Dean won five HIA awards including best outdoor area, best outdoor project, best steel frame project, best custom built home and Queensland home of the year for a house constructed at Voyagers Court at Raby Bay in Cleveland.
Glenn told the Redland City Bulletin though he knew it was an impressive house having lived in it prior to it being sold to its current owners, the award wins still took him by surprise.
“It was very much unexpected, we knew it was a nice home, I loved living there it was absolutely beautiful,” he said.
“I’ve lived in a lot of homes because we have built a fair few for ourselves but when I moved in I thought, this is special.
“It wasn’t just a nice looking home, it was livable, practical and had all the soft touches in it as well.
“I know the Judges from HIA said that when they left they were all in agreeance in saying, would you live there, yes we would, that speaks volumes.”
The home, which features four en-suited bedrooms, a gym and an office, beat more than 400 homes from builders across the state and will now represent the state at national awards in May.
Dean said he wanted to design a home with a balanced and natural feel, which he added he felt would give the building an enduring look.
“We wanted to get those harder elements like the stone in, they give you that feeling of mass and of masculinity and then you use the lighter timbers and things to soften it and make it a little bit more gentle,” he said.
“Stone and timber have been used for a couple thousand years so I don’t think it is going anywhere from a style point of view, and I hope that it is quite timeless, so that our family enjoyed it, the family that is in there now will enjoy it and a few families after that will enjoy it also.”
Dean said he never imagined winning multiple awards when he designed the home.
“I think if you are doing a home to win an award you’ve got it all wrong, you’ve set the goal posts up on the wrong field,” he said.
“For example when I designed it I was trying to create a home that was livable for my parents or for a client.”
