Mick Banks and his team from Banskia Building are celebrating after winning Residential Builder of the Year at the Western NSW Master Builders Awards.
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The Orange-based construction company won the award for a modern new build at 24 Hale Street, which also took out the Contract Homes under $400,000 category.
The three-bedroom house was designed by Source Architects and Banksia Building manager Ben Barrett said it was one of two neighbouring properties Banksia Building constructed for the same developer on a subdivided lot in East Orange.
Mr Barrett said there was an old fibro house on the lot that was demolished to make room for two new builds.
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"The client [Lancoprojects] bought it as an opportunity to make some money as an investor," he said.
"He took care of the demo then we took care of the subdivision and then built two dwellings there.
"He came to us with the plans for the architect and we basically managed it from plans and went from there."
Although from the street the houses look different, with 24 having a darker and more modern facade, while 22 has a more traditional appearance, they have similar floor plans.
However, Mr Banks decided to only enter one of the properties into the under $400,000 category.
Banksia Building won three awards at the Western NSW presentation in Orange recently. Those awards included the two for 24 Hale Street and a third award for the Valencia Drive Early Learning Centre in the $1 million - $3 million commercial property section.
"Winning this award now means we get automatic entry into the state award," Mr Banks said.
"We will have to get it rejudged with the state judges in that category again."
The judges comment for the Residential Builder of the Year award stated the combination of a challenging site and client and consultant expectations enabled Banksia Building to showcase the skills and craftmanship of its team.
"There's not much space between each site so Chris had to work out the logistics of how to build [22 Hale Street] and then build [24 Hale Street] together but separately," Mr Barrett said and Mr Banks agreed.
"It was challenging being so close together and I suppose it's always challenging in an existing neighbourhood and powerlines and things like that," Mr Banks said.
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"The judges are basing it on the overall quality, there's the wow factor then a lot of it is based on the finishes and the quality."
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Tanya Marschke
I am based at Orange and cover a wide range of subjects as well as the weekly business column. I've worked consistently in the the media industry since 2006 including the past seven years at the Central Western Daily. Before moving to Orange, I worked as a journalist at weekly newspapers the Beaudesert Times and the Gold Coast Sun in Queensland, as well as the Scone Advocate in the Hunter Valley. I started my career at the Ridge News in Lightning Ridge while I completed my journalism studies remotely at Charles Sturt University in Bathurst.
I am based at Orange and cover a wide range of subjects as well as the weekly business column. I've worked consistently in the the media industry since 2006 including the past seven years at the Central Western Daily. Before moving to Orange, I worked as a journalist at weekly newspapers the Beaudesert Times and the Gold Coast Sun in Queensland, as well as the Scone Advocate in the Hunter Valley. I started my career at the Ridge News in Lightning Ridge while I completed my journalism studies remotely at Charles Sturt University in Bathurst.
