If you’re considering building a new home in Coogee, you’re in great company. Over the last few years, Coogee has become one of Perth’s fastest growing communities and is starting to reap the benefits of considerable investment from government and private investors alike. A mere 5km’s south of bustling Fremantle, and an easy commute to the city in under 30 minutes, Port Coogee offers new home builders a safe and laid-back coastal lifestyle for considerably less than its trendy, northern neighbour. Coogee may not boast Fremantle’s abundance of brick federation homes but what it lacks in heritage aesthetics, it makes up for in natural habitat and a contemporary, yet inclusive, community vibe. As boutique home builders who specialise in creating bespoke new home designs for our clients along Perth’s southern coastline, we’ve put together some useful information for people contemplating building a new home in Coogee.
An Evolving Modern Landscape
Whilst Coogee has a history dating back to Thomas Peel’s settler group in 1829, aside from a small pocket of suburban residences built around the Old Coogee Hotel in late 1960’s, the suburb remained mostly rural right through until the 1980’s. By the mid-1990’s, most of what is now considered the ‘old part’ of Coogee was built up and comprised a diverse and colourful array of post-modern architectural gems. The early 2000’s marked the beginning of a distinct shift in Coogee’s modern landscape with the first residential lots of the South Beach and Port Coogee Developments reaching the market. Since then, Coogee’s property scene has continued to evolve with many original and renovated 1980’s homes happily coexisting alongside expansive modern masterpieces. And with Port Coogee itself subject to stringent property design guidelines that mandate minimum standards of architectural character, sustainability and aesthetic appeal, it would seem Coogee’s architectural credentials will continue reaching new heights.
Holidaying at Home
Without a doubt, one of Coogee’s key drawcards is its abundance of pristine coastline, natural parkland and connectedness with a healthy and active, outdoor lifestyle. Coogee boasts more than 8km² of coastal bushland and recreation areas across Woodman Point Regional Park. The park offers provides visitors with the opportunity to engage in a diverse array of recreational activities and features nature walks, children’s playgrounds, BBQ facilities and jetties. For cycling enthusiasts, there is a well-established cycling track which meanders along a very pleasant, 30-minute coastal route up to Fremantle.
In terms of the coastline itself, sheltered by both Rottnest and Garden Islands, the beaches off Coogee and North Coogee are characterised by a mix of barricaded ocean swimming areas and calm, clear waters ideal for swimming, snorkelling, sailing and kite surfing. There’s even a shipwreck to dive or snorkel only 5 meters off the shoreline as well as a dog friendly beach. Coogee Beach Surf Life Saving Club is home to the area’s valuable beach patrol and safety services as well as housing a bar, restaurant and function facilities. If you’re building a new home in Coogee, the club is also a great way to socialise and meet some of your soon to be new neighbours. For families with young kids, Port Coogee Beach Marina Water Park offers a great, safe place for kids to enjoy swimming, paddle boarding and frolicking in the fountains and other water-based play activities. If you’re a boat owner, Port Coogee Marina accommodates 150 floating berths as well as a service jetty and power, wi-fi and bathroom facilities for pen holders. With pretty much all of Coogee being walking distance to the beaches and coastal reserve, building your new home here really enables you to enjoy a bit of holiday every day!
Who is Building New Homes in Coogee?
Coogee’s growing population is a mix of professionals, young families, older families and retirees. The Port Coogee development has seen an influx of affluent families and empty nesters building contemporary, bespoke homes only minutes from the water’s edge. The local primary school is highly regarded and, whilst secondary school options are more limited, the area is well serviced by public transport into the city and surrounding suburbs. With a mixture of large blocks suitable for building expansive family homes and compact, low maintenance allotments perfect for creating luxury and low maintenance coastal retreats, Coogee and Port Coogee are highly amenable to families of all shapes and sizes.
Local Amenities and Dining
Port Coogee Village Shopping Centre offers most of what is required for everyday neighbourhood shopping including a Woollies, 13 specialty stores, medical and dental clinics, a newsagent, pharmacy and a variety of casual dining options. For a bigger selection of stores, nearby Phoenix Shopping Centre is around a 7-minute drive and you can be in Garden City Perth in just over 20 minutes.
In terms of casual dining, Coogee offers several options including a few within the Village Shopping Centre and a Dome Café with stunning views across the marina. The remainder of Coogee is dotted with a variety of local eateries offering the standard pizza, fish and chips, sushi and Thai. What’s most exciting on the local dining scene though is that the Old Coogee Hotel is currently undergoing a transformation and will soon be home to a restaurant, bar, garden and cooking school. The project is being executed by the Little Creatures Brewery founders and will be run by head chef Scott Brannigan of Fremantle’s Bread in Common fame. There’s also Coogee Live, an annual art and cultural festival that delivers a range of artistic, musical and community activities whilst celebrating all that Coogee’s picturesque coastline has to offer. With these additional injections of culinary and cultural cool, Coogee house builders have even more to love about their decision to create a forever home here.
Architecture Styles
As we mentioned earlier, whilst Coogee is still home to an array of original post-modern houses, the local streetscape is definitely evolving into a more contemporary, coastal enclave. Inspired by the multitude of luxury, state of the art homes being built in Port Coogee, rather than renovating, many Coogee residents are choosing to demolish and rebuild or purchasing vacant lots on which to create their new dream homes. Port Coogee has been characterised by a staged release of lots of varying size, location and orientation. Blocks range in size anywhere from 210m² right through to picturesque, 900m²+ allotments with absolute water frontage.
A high-quality development, Port Coogee is comprised of a variety of sophisticated architecture and landscaped outdoor spaces. Whilst each newly built home has been custom designed to have its own distinct identity, it must also meet the Port Coogee Design Guidelines by achieving a minimum level of sustainability as well as seamlessly complementing the contemporary coastal character of the area. This is why, when considering building a new home in North Coogee, it’s important to select a reputable custom home builder, like D A Burke, who’ll work closely with you to ensure all your functional and aesthetic needs are met whilst still complying with the local design guidelines and R-Codes.
New Home Designs in Coogee
The Port Coogee Design Guidelines have been developed to mandate minimum standards of quality, sustainability and architectural credentials for new homes built in North Coogee. It is essential to follow these guidelines if you’re building a new home in the Port Coogee Marina precinct but, as we have mentioned, whilst it’s not mandatory, many people building in other parts of Coogee are also choosing to follow the contemporary-coastal design lead of this award-winning development. So what sorts of design features can you expect to find across new home builds in Coogee? Naturally this will depend on a number of characteristics including the size of the lot, its orientation, the available outlooks and the home builder’s individual preferences but there definitely some common design traits that can be observed across the area’s new home builds. These include a diverse mix of contemporary, low maintenance construction materials that reinforce the sophisticated coastal character of Port Coogee. Also prevalent is expansive outdoor terraces and courtyard spaces that facilitate seamless indoor/outdoor living and allow home owners to take advantage of the stunning outlooks over the Indian Ocean, Woodman Point and Port Coogee Marina that many of the new homes have to offer.
Another common design feature to be found throughout the area is the use of tandem garages that have been designed to optimise garage space whilst making the most of the space afforded by the smaller lot sizes. Rather than being stand-alone features, these garages form part of the overall house design and are constructed using the latest in designer cladding materials to seamlessly complement the overall aesthetics of the homes. You’ll also notice extensive use of passive design principals across Port Coogee which means factors such as the orientation of homes, window placement, air flow and use of materials have been carefully considered to maintain a comfortable indoor climate all year round, thereby reducing energy consumption and reliance on heating and cooling appliances.
Building Materials in Coogee
As we’ve mentioned, if you’re building a new home in the Port Coogee Marina precinct, there are specific Design Guidelines that must be followed and approved before you can even apply for regular building or planning permits. These guidelines include specific parameters around the types and combination of materials that must be used when designing and building the home. The high exposure to salt, wind and sun also mean that building materials must be carefully selected to not only reinforce the coastal character of the area but also to deliver optimal, low-maintenance durability over time. Walking around the streets of Port Coogee, there is definitely an earthy, Mediterranean feel that is evoked by the expansive use of neutral colour palettes combined with natural and textural elements. Textured renders are common as are features such as stonework and rammed earth which project a strong and solid ground floor construction. Timber and eco-ply features are also prevalent as is the extensive use of Colourbond roofing.
To meet the designated Design Guidelines for the area, newly built houses in Coogee must also incorporate minimum levels of sustainability and sound insulation. This impacts everything from the type of insulation used, the cladding materials selected and window placement right through to garden designs and plant selections. Depending on the location of the new dwelling, certain new homes built in Coogee are also required comply with the Quiet House Design Guidelines.
What’s Next?
If you’ve made the exciting decision to build your new home in North Coogee, one of Perth’s fastest growing coastal hotspots, as you can see from this brief guide we’ve put together, there is a lot to think about. Not only does your new home need to meet your own functional and aesthetic needs, both now and into the future, it also needs to meet the very specific design and sustainability guidelines mandated by the area’s developer. To make the process as easy and enjoyable as possible, it’s essential you select a reputable, custom builder who will take the time to work closely with you to ensure all your needs, as well as your budget, are carefully considered from the outset of the design phase. With over 40 years’ experience designing and building custom homes right along Perth’s south coast, at D.A. Burke we would love to discuss making your new Coogee dream home a reality.
Collaborating with renowned and highly experienced Designers, we produce stunning, fully customised new home designs that deliver optimal functionality, sustainability and aesthetic appeal whilst seamlessly complementing their surrounding built environments. Taking care of the entire design and construction process, D.A. Burke is a bespoke, family owned business which means our clients benefit from dealing directly with the company’s Directors, who are also the builders, throughout the entire process. We provide fully transparent quotes with no hidden costs and take care of all the necessary drafting, engineering, permits and planning approvals to deliver end-to-end, new home building projects for our clients. With 5-star reviews across Google, Facebook and Houzz, we offer friendly, professional and personalised service designed to make building a new home as stress-free as possible for our clients.
Contact D.A. Burke to discuss building your forever home in Coogee today.