Architects Mornington Peninsula

Buy it, renovate it, or walk away? On the Mornington Peninsula the architectural question often arrives before settlement: the weekender that might become the forever home, the mid-century beach house with good bones and tired services, the block whose overlays nobody has actually read. The peninsula's charm and its constraints come as a package, and the worst time to discover the constraints is after you own them.

ANSWERS BEFORE SETTLEMENT

BY Projects Architecture gives peninsula owners and buyers a drawn, priced answer before the big commitment. Registered architect Barbara Yerondais FRAIA heads the practice; its record spans 35+ years, 400+ projects across Victoria and 59+ heritage approvals, and feasibility sessions run by video when the drive down Peninsula Link doesn't suit.

35+

YEARS

400+

PROJECTS

59+

HERITAGE APPROVALS

THE DECISIONS

The three peninsula decisions
we help make

Turn the weekender into the main house

The classic brief: a holiday place in Rye, Sorrento, Flinders or Mount Martha that now needs to work all year. Insulation, orientation, services and space, upgraded without losing the ease that made you love it.

Renovate or extend the coastal home

Where salt, wind and weather have a vote and materials must be chosen for the third decade, not the brochure photo.

Build new on peninsula land

Where the overlays do the talking: what a block near the coast, in vegetation or inside a township boundary will accept varies street by street, and the honest read comes before the purchase, not after.

DESIGN & APPROVAL

The overlay stack,
read properly

Peninsula projects answer to more layers than most of Melbourne, and reading them together is the skill:

Bushfire first

The CFA puts it plainly: “The Bushfire Management Overlay (BMO) applies to land in Victoria that may be at risk from bushfire.” On affected land, a new build or substantial works needs a Bushfire Attack Level assessment under AS 3959, and the BAL rating shapes materials, glazing and cost. We establish it at feasibility, not at tender.

Coastal exposure, everywhere

Coastal exposure is a design input everywhere on the peninsula, overlay or not: durability, corrosion, wind loading, maintenance reality.

Heritage where it applies

From township precincts to notable mid-century beach houses. Protection status is checked lot by lot as step one, because on the peninsula it is rarely obvious from the street.

One application, argued together

Our experience on dual heritage-and-coastal overlay projects in Bayside is that an integrated design case typically moves months faster than fighting each overlay separately, and the same logic runs the peninsula's stacked approvals.

Standing at an inspection wondering what the block really allows?

Book a feasibility session before you commit to the block, in person or by video.

BOOK A FEASIBILITY SESSION

THE PROPERTIES

The properties,
plainly

Three peninsula property families keep arriving at our door: township weekenders and beach houses, many mid-century and structurally honest; established homes in the bayside suburbs from Mount Eliza to Mornington; and larger rural-residential blocks inland where the freedom is real but so are the bushfire and servicing questions.

Each family fails differently and rewards differently, and pretending they are one market is how generic advice goes wrong.

OUTCOMES

What peninsula
clients get

A holiday house that graduated into a home without losing its holiday. A coastal build specified for weather rather than for photography. A block bought, or passed on, with open eyes. The practice designs for climate as a discipline: Barbara lectured in building science for around a decade, and on the peninsula that training pays for itself in comfort and running costs.

Fees are fixed and agreed at engagement, so the budget conversation happens once, honestly.

COMMON QUESTIONS

Peninsula questions,
answered honestly

Can you assess a peninsula property before we buy it?

Yes, and it is some of the most valuable work we do: overlays, orientation, structure and realistic scope, delivered as a drawn concept and a clear recommendation before you are committed.

What does a Bushfire Attack Level rating mean for my build?

The BAL rating, assessed under AS 3959, sets construction requirements from ember protection up to flame-zone standards, and it moves cost and design. We establish it during feasibility so nothing surprises you at tender.

What does an architect-designed renovation or extension cost?

Across BY Projects' delivered work, renovation budgets have ranged from approximately $250,000–$570,000, and substantial extensions have started around $1 million. These are portfolio examples rather than peninsula-wide price guides; scope and site drive the real number, and the feasibility session gives you one for your project.

Do you really service the whole peninsula from Collingwood?

Yes: sessions run by video when that suits, site visits happen when they matter, and the practice's delivery record spans metropolitan and regional Victoria.

LOCAL KNOWLEDGE

Useful peninsula
resources

Mornington Peninsula Shire: heritage and planning permits

The shire's Heritage Overlay and permit guidance.

CFA: planning and the Bushfire Management Overlay

The BMO, BAL assessments and building in bushfire-prone areas.

Victorian Heritage Database

Check a property's heritage status.

Start the Conversation

Every project begins with a deep inquiry into site, heritage, and vision. Let’s discuss the strategic potential of your next work.

SCHEDULE A FEASIBILITY SESSION →

A PRELIMINARY CONSULTATION TO EVALUATE HERITAGE CONSTRAINTS, SITE POTENTIAL, AND PROJECT FEASIBILITY.