T&W member Kirsty Visman is the lucky winner of our recent Pinterest competition to win a one-on-one design session with Kevin McCloud at Grand Designs Live in Sydney. We liked the clear vision her winning board conveyed, and were intrigued by the picture of her bush property. We asked Kirsty to share some of the ideas (and inspiring images) behind her own grand plans.

Tell us about your 'Grand Design'?
As a couple, my partner Anthony and I have always been passionate about buildings and how a space can help or hinder your lifestyle. A year ago we purchased a 10 acre block of land in Samford, Qld and set about designing our 'forever' home.

Anthony is a carpenter so we will be building the house ourselves, a daunting, yet exciting prospect!


John Legend's mid-century home in the Hollywood Hills. Image by Roger Davies for Architectural Digest

The house is modular, with buildings connected by decks. This is a style of building quite Balinese in layout, however we are also heavily borrowing from the mid-century modernist architectural style. In essence this is a 1950s ranch house that would sit comfortably in the Californian hills, very different to the high set Queenslanders that we have lived in in the past. The slab on ground, timber framed house features a lot of glass and louvers to maximize the mountain views and the breezes.

We have included a guest building because we love entertaining and also because we love our privacy. For most of the year we will live in a two bedroom building, however the additional 'pods' allow us to expand out when we need to.


A modern garden with bold forms by Roger's Gardens (left) and a staircase by German firm MO Architekten found on Design Milk.

How far along the dreaming/planning/building process are you now?
Our plans are set and at the end of October, we will be moving on to the site in a caravan to get the build started. With Anthony over-seeing the trades and also doing all of the carpentry himself, we have not put a deadline on the project as we know it will be a labour of love.


Bathroom from House Boone Murray by Tribe Studio Architects. Image by Peter Bennetts.

Have you encountered any difficulties so far?
Despite Anthony being a qualified builder, there are a lot of hoops you need to jump through in order to build a home yourself. Being a semi-rural site, we don't have water or sewage and we have also had to reconsider some of our materials in order to ensure that the house will be as safe as possible in a bush fire. These are all considerations that we wouldn't need to worry about if we chose to build in a suburban estate, however we feel that the reward of living here will outweigh the challenges involved.


Image by Trevor Tondro for The New York Times.

What are you hoping to create – what is important to you about the design?
Above all, we want a house that is flexible. We don't want to ever leave this house and therefore we have had to consider how our lives might change over the coming years and ensure that the design of the building can adapt to those life changes. We have never really liked overly large houses so we hope that this is a home that brings people together instead of separating them, whilst, at the same time, allowing ourselves and guests a private retreat.


Image via the Skona Hem blog.

What are you planning to ask Kevin?
We have been avid fans of Grand Designs for many years and in a lot of ways, the show has helped us shape the design for our own house. Being able to show Kevin our design and discuss the ways in which we might be able to make better use of natural materials and sustainable building methods will be fascinating.

Visit Grand Designs Live in Melbourne (17-19 October) or Sydney (24-26 October) for over 200 exhibitors and your favourite celebrity experts. Look out for Temple & Webster's Karen McCartney, Jessica Bellef and Adam Powell on the Design Stage in Sydney at 3.30pm each day.