Mandurah House

It’s no understatement to say that, for architect William Hames, this gorgeous home was a deeply personal project.

Located in Mandurah, south of Perth, it took almost 10 years to take the project from idea to final execution and every detail has been thought through to the last millimetre.

The view was central to the home’s design. Hames wanted to use glass, glass and more glass, stretching between rows of steel posts. He also wanted to eliminate any excess detailing and junctions – anything that would stand between him and the glorious outdoors. It was a challenge that took an entire team of skilled tradespeople and engineers to overcome. That included the people from AWS window and door fabricator, Exclusive Aluminium, who worked tirelessly to help Hames and the wider construction team to achieve this grand vision.

As a result, the minute you open the front door, your eye is drawn through the home to the glittering canal. Hames describes it as, “like living in a moored boat because you look out beyond and it sort of cantilevers over the land, so you really get a direct connection to the water.

“I would come down here some weekends and I’d walk onto the site and there would be one of the tradesmen with his entire family, showing them what he had done,” says Hames. “That happened on numerous occasions and I thought to myself, ‘It’s not just my design, it’s my design with a lot of very skilled trades who seriously love the challenge!”