Wooreen House: an Award-Winning Custom Off-Grid Family Haven
Build Date
December 2022
Location
Wooreen, Victoria
Client
Shane & Angela
Architect / Designer
J Design Architects
Value
$1.75M
Awards
2024 MBAV Winner Best Custom Home 1-2 million & 2024 MBAV Builder of the year
A block with a shed that was a getaway from the hustle and bustle of the city has become a family’s forever home – with MDC Building Group’s completion of their award-winning, five-bedroom, custom-designed family haven.
With four children, life is busy, big and loud and relentless. Whatever you can do in the home to ensure the job of keeping six lives on track and running smoothly, you do it. So when this family decided during the uncertainty of COVID lockdowns that they wanted their bush retreat to become their permanent lifestyle, they decided to do it right the first time around.
Their brief was clear - create a home to accommodate the family’s needs, maximise the spectacular rural setting, and incorporate sustainable off-grid living.
With J Design Architects, they designed a spacious, practical home with considerations like a large, well-planned laundry, a parents’ wing and a kids’ wing, and large bedrooms that their two boys, and two girls could easily share. Leaving a fifth bedroom as a spare.
The home embraces the half bushland, half open paddock landscape of the block that has provided escape, fun and relaxation over many years. It is situated to maximise views over the farmland and adjoining State Forest.
The home also accommodates the needs of the family’s daughter who requires a lower bathroom vanity and built-in steps in the kitchen to use the taps and sink. The kitchen steps slide out like a drawer, and the entire kitchen layout is designed for accessibility. These subtle, highly practical modifications make everyday living easier while remaining seamlessly integrated into the overall design.
With such careful attention to detail and planning, and a meticulous implementation of the design by MDC Building Group, the finished building won the 2024 MBA Award for Best Custom Home between $1–2 million.
Covering more than 600 square metres, the five-bedroom home also has three bathrooms, three living areas, and a dedicated theatre room. High vaulted ceilings, expansive windows, and multiple living zones were designed to cater to the family’s lifestyle while ensuring that every space feels connected to the surrounding environment. A highlight of the home’s design is the master suite, with floor-to-ceiling glazing overlooking the bush, a generous walk-in wardrobe, and a spacious ensuite.
Sustainability was central to the project. With the property’s remote location, connecting to the power grid would have cost about the same as installation of a completely off-grid system. So off-grid it was.
Sixty solar panels cover the roof of the adjacent shed, linked to battery storage and supported by an onsite wood-fired boiler for hydronic heating. There is also generator back-up if required.
The material palette complements the home’s natural setting. Recycled bricks and metal Colorbond cladding were used to create texture and visual interest, while timber finishes in key areas echo the surrounding bushland. Large expanses of glass bring in natural light and maximise the panoramic views.
From a construction perspective, the home presented several technical challenges. Its size alone required meticulous coordination, from scaffolding for the vaulted ceilings to the strategic placement of control joints in the slab to accommodate expansion and contraction. The team also integrated clever design features, such as a hidden wood box, seamlessly incorporated into the cladding, demonstrating MDC’s ability to combine practicality with precision detailing.
The residence is not only visually striking but supremely functional and carefully thought out for everyday family life, accessibility, and sustainability.
The home stands as a showcase of MDC Building Group’s capability to deliver large, complex residential projects. Every detail, from the layout design to the bespoke joinery, off-grid systems, and integrated accessibility features, reflects the team’s commitment to quality, innovation, and client satisfaction. This home perfectly fits the family it was built for, indoor and outdoor living merge seamlessly, and the property’s natural beauty is preserved and celebrated.
