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A LOOK BACK AT OUR 2019

24 Nov 2019

Every great building starts with the foundation. You build from the ground up, adding those layers, strengthening here, embellishing there. And then before you know it, you have a finished product. But what happens to all those early layers? When you’re looking at a beautiful, 2-storey house, it can be easy to forget all the layers underneath that. All the work that goes into making a finished product… You might not see it but it’s still there and it always will be.

That’s how we look at our legacy at A&A. We never forget those first layers. We understand how crucial those foundations are to the overall strength of something, whether it’s a house, a relationship, a team. It’s more than a fundamental principle of construction to us, it’s the ethos with which we’ve built our entire team. For us, construction isn’t just about looking at the next project, but looking back at what’s come before. Taking pride in the teams hard work and using those achievements as a springboard to new and greater accomplishments in the year to come.

To say 2019 was a big year for A&A would be understatement. Simply put, this was the biggest year that the team has ever faced. After months of toil, we were able to hand over the keys to an amazing, multimillion-dollar, 4-storey bespoke luxury home on the Northbridge waterfront. Simultaneously to this, we worked a massive scale extension and renovation on a beautiful property in Riverview.

The team was tested with scales and timelines like never before, including renovation of a 2-storey home in Randwick, commercial office fit outs and the mammoth task of a full renovation of a popular Mosman Café, all within a tight 3-week window… And this isn’t even including the list of smaller builds and projects progressing in the background!

But while these accomplishments are noteworthy, the most important thing we’ve learned for A&A is just how much this team can truly accomplish when we collaborate effectively with each other and our clients. So now we’re directing our sights on 2020, where we plan to be bigger, better and bolder.

AN EYE TO THE FUTURE

We talked about building strong foundations and for A&A that is always going to be our people. That is why it’s so exciting to be able to welcome some brand new team members for 2020, starting with Jacobe Nash.

Jacobe is a licenced builder and carpenter with over 22 years experience in the building industry. He has taken on the role of construction manager and building subject matter expert, so we can’t wait to see how his experience will expand our teams vision.

Growth doesn’t always mean recruiting from outside the team. One of our in-house labourers, Azur, has taken advantage of our apprenticeship scheme, which will see him as a Qualified Carpenter in the next few years. Azur has been working in our team for the last 12 months and will be the first apprentice in A&A Construction.

We also welcome Owen and Ante to the A&A Construction team! With our team now bigger and stronger than ever before we’re more than ready to take on 2020, including the many exciting projects already underway.

And to give just a taste of what’s in store next year, here are some of the projects we already have on the go.

18P Mosman
This is a 3-storey luxury townhouse located in one of the most sought after suburbs in Sydney. It showcases breathtaking views of Chinamans Beach, out through the Sydney Harbour Heads. We have been contracted to fully gut, extend (including new lift shaft), then do a complete renovation to create the dream home for our client. This project has been a joy to undertake and will be finished in April 2020.

15R Cremorne
This 3 storey bespoke attached dwelling is located in the heart of Cremorne. The A&A Construction team has been apart of this amazing project from the design and DA process to the demolition of the current structure now in November 2019. It is a pleasure to be collaborating with such thoughtful clients and we’re proud to be helping them create a masterpiece to enjoy with their family

92PA Mosman 

From design to construct, 92PA is a 2-storey knock down and rebuild of a beautiful heritage home. Located in one of the most exclusive streets in Mosman, the property is close to Balmoral beach and even closer to the coffee shops and restaurants of this scenic suburb. We are excited to take on this project and the unique challenges and opportunities that come with designing and building a heritage home.

So this is just a small part of what you can expect from A&A in the coming year. And no matter what projects we tackle in the future, you can rest assured that we’ll never stop learning and strengthening those foundations that got us to where we are today.



About the Team

16 Aug 2019

Collaboration is a word that gets thrown around in a lot of different contexts. It could mean anything from helping a colleague with a work report, to David Bowie and Queen making a song together. But no matter how the context changes, one thing always stays the same – collaboration is only as good as the people involved.

 For A&A Construction, collaboration has always been a key part of the construction process, but more important still is the people. A&A’s team of professional tradespeople have been hand-picked for their skill as well as their commitment the company’s philosophy of collaborative construction.

Since forming in 2015, the goal was always to do away with ‘Us vs Them’ concepts of traditional building, with a much greater focus on efficiency, flexibility and most importantly communication. But there’s another crucial benefit of having collaboration as a core tenant of your team, and that is the advantage of cumulative and diverse experience.

To get a sense of the differing experience, you only need to look at A&A’s Directors. Before Dixon Andrews was in charge of Design and Technical Oversight for the company, he spent 20 years as a builder and licensed architect. That’s two decades spent honing an eye for design, crafting the expertise required to oversee incredibly complex builds and ensuring the intent of the design is still fully realised.

 Now consider this in contrast to Dane Andrews, a former Captain for the Royal Australian Army. On paper, you can already notice very different backgrounds. But serving in the Royal Australian Electrical and Mechanical Engineering Corps has given Dane a level of discipline and attention to detail that is second to none and it’s a precision that he brings to every aspect of his role as the Managing Director.

And this is the key distinction for A&A. When you contract builders the traditional way, you’re contracting their experience. But at the end of the day, that’s a one to one relationship, your builders experience combined with your vision. However, with A&A the entire team is benefitting from decades of shared experience and management that’s just as dedicated to sharing their knowledge as they are learning from the rest of the team.

 And when you look at the team of tradespeople assembled by A&A, there’s a lot of collective knowledge to go around. Dom Allen and Lawrence Harkness have 28 years combined experience in carpentry and being Small Project Foremen. Working big and small projects in Australia (and even Fiji), that team knowledge has seen the smooth completion of the most complicated builds.  Even newer team members like Sladjan Tepic, who joined in 2017, have used that collective experience to grow and hone their craft.

 For over four years the A&A team have been working together with clients throughout Sydney’s North Shore, including suburbs like Mosman, Willoughby, Lane Cove, Northbridge, Cammeray, Neutral Bay, Waverton, Greenwich, Cremorne, Milsons Point and North Sydney.

 So when you’re looking into the idea of Collaborative Building, and the concept alone might feel somewhat abstract to you, first look at the team. Because it’s those skilled, experienced people who are going to be working tirelessly to bring your project to life and they’re not going to be working on it in isolation. They’re going to be sharing their experience with you and building together.

Collaborative Building – the smarter way to build

15 Jul 2019

Few things in life compare to the stress of being a homeowner. Maybe those renovations are taking forever, or you’ve gone way over budget. Perhaps your builders aren’t communicating with you, leaving you in the dark. No matter which way you cut it, the experience has the potential to leave you emotionally drained and financially at the mercy of your builder. But it doesn’t have to be that way.

 7Collaborative Building is an innovative and smarter approach to construction, which can turn renovations, extensions and builds into less of a battle of wills with your builder and more of a shared project where everyone benefits. When A&A Construction was formed in 2015 the core philosophy was to engage all parties in a way where all work and information was shared openly as a team - and that’s exactly what Collaborative Building can achieve. Instead of emphasising on the difference between the homeowner and the builder, this approach cements the concept of co-operation, creating the best possible outcome financially and for the quality of the project.

What Is Collaborative Building? 

To understand how Collaborative Building works, the best place to start is by looking at traditional building concepts. The concept of fixed price building contracts would be commonplace to most homeowners. And maybe for a small-scale job, they even make sense – one job, one agreed upon fee. But as most homeowners know, it’s never just “one job”. Unexpected challenges are always just around the corner and with that, unexpected costs. The bigger the project, the more disastrous those unplanned costs can become, leaving the homeowner out of pocket and more importantly, feeling out of control. And without constant and open communication between all parties, conflict can often arise.

 Anyone who’s been in this situation knows the tension and stress this can cause for all the involved parties. But ultimately, it will be the homeowner who bears the brunt of the financial strain. Because when it comes to fixed price building contracts – it’s the builder who’s most protected, not the homeowner.

 Now for a moment, imagine a different approach to building. Imagine a building process with totally open communication. Imagine a building team that’s engaging openly with all relevant parties and authorities, co-operating directly with you to ensure your needs are insured at all costs. Already sounds better doesn’t it? Well that’s Collaborative Building.

 How does Collaborative Building work?

 Collaborative Building follows the principles of any large-scale project management. It doesn’t matter the industry or even the project, when you’re tackling a mammoth endeavour and juggling a complex array of tasks, it all hinges on one very important thing – communication.

With collaborative building, that communication starts at the earliest stage possible. Instead of waiting to be called upon when it’s time for construction, your builders are right there in the planning stage, as a part of the team. That conversation starts with your architect and carries over to all the key points of communication for the build, whether it’s monitoring building compliance, leasing with authorities, labour and just managing the day to day. With collaborative building, you’re not just getting a builder, you’re getting end-to-end project management and being kept in the loop every step of the way.

 Why are the benefits of Collaborative Building? 

There are numerous reasons a homeowner should consider collaborative building, and they may be as varied as the projects themselves. But really, it comes down to avoiding the inevitable pitfalls of traditional building and the stresses that come with unexpected costs. At A&A Construction, one of the fundamental beliefs is that the homeowner should be protected at all costs. That’s why a key component of collaborative construction revolves around accountability which, for A&A Construction, is facilitated through an independent Quantity Surveyor. The surveyor works directly with you (the homeowner), giving you an accurate and thorough estimation of all anticipated costs of which they are solely and independently accountable for. This estimate is used to establish the one off, up front cost. And once that cost is agreed upon? It does not change.

This method not only ensures greater protection and value for the homeowner, it also completely removes the means and incentives for builders to escalate and creep up those costs. Which means greater flexibility, fewer headaches and a more enjoyable experience for all parties involved.

Say “Goodbye” to Renovation Horror Stories

Everyone has heard a terrifying renovation story and some of us have been unlucky enough to experience a one of our own. But that shouldn’t frighten you off taking that next step on your dream project. Because building something great should be enjoyable, there’s no need to make things harder than they have to be. So why not try a new way of doing things where you can stress less and build more?

You can find out more information about collaborative construction and the team behind A&A Construction here