Home ownership has always been the Australian dream and our passion for home improvement has reached fever pitch. Renovating is the go-to solution for anyone who is looking for extra space, however the ups and downs of the renovation rollercoaster have become popular fodder for dinner party conversations.
Less talked about are the alternatives, in particular, the option to extend your space rather than renovate. You may have heard of people converting shipping containers to home offices, teenage retreats, yoga studios or even houses, however there is an option available that takes this concept one step further – introducing Melbourne company Harwyn.
Rather than trying to work within the constraints of a shipping container, Harwyn has conceived its prefabricated pods from the ground up, creating architecturally designed, self-contained modular living spaces that deliver endless possibilities of an additional room for home, business or recreation.
We put the Harwyn Pod head to head with a traditional renovation to see how it stacks up.
TIME
Traditional Renovation
How long will the renovation last? Type it into Google and you will get some wildly predictable answers, all centred around trying to be realistic. One month is a great outcome; four to six months is more realistic depending on the size of the project.
Harwyn Pod
A Harwyn Pod is installed within 6 weeks of choosing your colours and finishes in the showroom.
PRICE
Traditional Renovation
A renovation can start off on time and on budget until the first floorboard is ripped up, exposing skeletons that seem like they would have been best left unearthed. Like the certainty of taxes and death, unexpected surprises await you in every renovation and with them come blown out budgets.
Harwyn Pod
The price of a Harwyn Pod is decided once the final finishes and colour are chosen in the showroom. At the same time, everything is determined including the site preparation required. This provides a lot of certainty and no creeping costs.
SHARING YOUR HOME
Traditional Renovation
Seasoned renovators are all too familiar with living through the noise, the dust and what seems like hundreds of workman sharing your home for the better part of six months, sometimes longer.
Harwyn Pod
Harwyn pods are built in our factory and the only contact clients have with our workers is when we prepare the site, which usually takes around four hours and another hour on the day of installation. This means the peace and tranquillity around your home will not be disturbed for a lengthy period of time.
DECISIONS
Traditional Renovation
What materials to use, how will the finish look, should there be more power points, will the space feel right? There are many decisions that need to be made in a renovation and more will crop up on a regular basis throughout.
Harwyn Pod
Harwyn’s architects and designers have put more than 45 years experience in to making most of the difficult decisions, such as choice of construction material, placement of elements and finishes, for our clients. Leaving just the final decisions on the customisable options, such as size and colour, to be made by the client. Also the Harwyn Pods can be viewed in our showroom so clients can see clearly what minor changes will look like without trying to imagine it.
Watch this video of a Melbourne yoga studio owner using a Harwyn pod, which was craned into her existing premises:
— Jason Fremder is the managing director of Harwyn, the makers of beautifully designed, prefabricated studio pods, ideal for those who are serious about creation and recreation.
