Episode 6 Recap: Stacking the Award-Winning Dream Home

How this Stunning Award-Winning Build Completely Rewrote Renovation Rules

Building up, not out

This time, host Adam Spencer heads to Perth’s prestigious Mossman Park, where modular builders Jess and Nick from PIQUE are taking on their most personal project yet — their own home.

With four kids, space has run out. But instead of moving, they’re doing something far more ambitious.

Building a second storey using modular construction — on top of an existing house never designed to carry it.

As Adam puts it:
“We’ve put modular on slabs, on piers… but modular on a 70-year-old house? That’s a new level.”

Redefining Modular

One of the key ambitions is clear:
don’t make it look like a box on top of a house.

The solution is a clever architectural move — what the team calls the “top hat.”

A third module sits above the main structure, increasing the roof pitch and creating a striking silhouette that blends seamlessly with the original mid-century style.

It’s modular construction doing something subtle but powerful:
challenging what people think modular looks like.

Uniplan: Building Where Nature Sets the Rules

Not every project is about speed.
Some are about respecting the environment — without compromising the outcome.

In this episode, we head to Mon Repos in Queensland, home to one of the most significant loggerhead turtle nesting sites in the world. It’s a place defined by sensitivity — low light, soft dunes, and strict environmental controls.

And yet, it’s here that Uniplan delivered something remarkable: the Turtle Sands eco-resort.

The challenge was clear:

Build on an environmentally sensitive site
Minimise disruption during turtle nesting season
Deliver a high-quality tourism destination on a tight timeline

Traditional construction simply wasn’t an option.

Modular was.

By shifting construction offsite, Uniplan was able to manufacture 52 modules — including villas, studios and shared facilities — in a controlled environment, before transporting them over 800 kilometres for rapid installation.

Every detail was considered before arrival:

Lighting designed to protect nesting turtles
Systems to reduce environmental impact
Precision planning to avoid disturbing the land

As the team explains, modular isn’t just faster — it’s cleaner, more controlled, and far less invasive.

The result is a world-class resort that feels deeply connected to its surroundings, while protecting the very ecosystem that makes it special.

It’s a powerful example of what modular makes possible:

building in places where traditional construction simply can’t go — and doing it responsibly.

While the Mossman Park build pushes structural boundaries, the episode also shifts focus to how modular construction is evolving across Australia — and the role materials play in that transformation.

In Canberra, we hear from AJC Modular, a builder redefining what modular homes can look and feel like.

Their message is simple:
modular homes aren’t site sheds or temporary structures — they’re architecturally designed homes people are proud to live in.

At the core of that shift is Bondor.

Rather than using traditional timber or steel framing systems, AJC builds with structural insulated panels (SIPs) supplied by Bondor — combining structure, insulation and performance into a single system.

The impact is immediate:

Faster offsite construction
Improved thermal and acoustic performance
Greater consistency across builds
Reduced waste and onsite labour

But what stands out most is what it enables.

AJC’s homes deliver larger open spans, flexible layouts and high-end finishes — all within the constraints of transportable modules. Designs can even be expanded by joining modules together, creating homes that feel anything but modular.

As the team explains, it’s about delivering a better bang for buck — homes that are more affordable, more efficient, and more liveable.

And with sustainability front of mind — from high-performance panels to optional solar and glazing upgrades — it’s clear this isn’t just about building faster.

It’s about building smarter homes for the future.

Knotwood: Coastal Design Without Compromise

Building by the coast comes with a hidden cost.

Salt air, wind and relentless sun don’t just age materials — they punish them.

That’s the challenge taken on by Gold Coast architect Jayson Pate, who approached his own home with a clear philosophy: every material needs to perform as well as it looks.

His solution leans into a bold, almost brutalist aesthetic — raw concrete, darker tones, sharp lines — but layered with carefully selected prefabricated elements, including Knotwood.

Rather than using traditional timber, Jayson specifies Knotwood’s aluminium batten system in a custom metallic bronze finish — a deliberate choice that brings warmth and texture while standing up to harsh coastal conditions.

The result is a material that delivers on multiple fronts:

The visual richness of timber
The durability of aluminium
Low maintenance in high-exposure environments
Consistent, factory-finished quality

Used across the upper levels for privacy, shading and architectural expression, the battens become more than a finish — they’re part of how the home performs.

And in a project where every decision balances aesthetics with longevity, that matters.

As the episode shows, this is where modular thinking really comes into its own:

materials aren’t just selected — they’re engineered to last.

Because in coastal environments, design isn’t just about how something looks on day one.

It’s about how it holds up on day one thousand.

WTI Beam: Reimagining Timber for the Future of Prefab

Not all innovation comes from new materials.

Sometimes, it comes from reinventing one of the oldest.

In this episode, we head to Warrnambool to see how WTI Beam is transforming timber into a high-performance engineered product built for the future of construction.

Working alongside industry leaders like Australian Forest and Wood Innovations (AFWI), the team is pushing the boundaries of what timber can do — particularly through the development of glulam (glued laminated timber).

At its core, glulam takes smaller pieces of timber — often material that would otherwise go unused — and bonds them together into exceptionally strong structural beams.

The result?

Longer spans across open spaces
Higher structural performance than traditional timber
More efficient use of natural resources
A scalable solution for prefabricated construction

What makes this breakthrough even more significant is the use of plantation-grown blue gum, a material now proving to be one of the strongest available for engineered timber products.

As the team explains, this isn’t just about making better beams — it’s about enabling a new era of construction.

Because as Australia shifts toward prefabrication, buildings increasingly rely on precision-engineered components that can be manufactured offsite and assembled quickly.

And glulam sits right at the centre of that shift.

It’s strong.
It’s sustainable.
And it turns what was once considered waste into one of the most valuable structural materials in the industry.

In a series focused on the future of building, WTI Beam shows that sometimes the biggest breakthroughs don’t replace tradition — they reinvent it.

The reveal: a home, reimagined

When Adam returns, the transformation is complete.

What was once a modest mid-century home is now a multi-level, architecturally refined family space:

A private upstairs retreat
Open, reimagined living areas below
Seamless integration between old and new

And perhaps most importantly — space for a growing family to breathe.

This EPIC Build isn’t just about building fast.

It’s about reimagining what’s possible.

Extending instead of demolishing
Building up instead of out
Using precision to unlock new potential in old structures

As Adam Spencer reflects:
“When you can add 30 tonnes to a house that was never designed for it… and make it look like it was always meant to be there — that’s not just clever engineering.”

That’s an EPIC build.

Bondor® is Australia’s leader in complete thermal building solutions and lightweight architectural panels making it the go-to solution for some of Australia’s best modular builders.

PIQUE creates designer homes in Perth, Western Australia that blend aesthetics with industrial efficiency. When you build with PIQUE, you’re creating a home using the latest in modular architectural building techniques.  Check them out in episdoe 6.

Australian Forest and Wood Innovations (AFWI) is a recently established national research institute committed to fulfilling the Australian Government’s promise of establishing a National Institute for Forest Products Innovation across the country.