Architect Williamstown

A Williamstown Victorian terrace came to us needing rescue rather than reinvention: original roof tiles kept and reinstated, new timberwork matched to the old profiles, and a rear extension that gave the house a modern life without arguing with its face. When it later sold, it exceeded the owner's price expectations. That project is one honest answer to what we do in Williamstown; it is not the whole answer.

HOBSONS BAY, DELIVERED

The range is the real story. In this same council the practice recently renovated and extended a 1960s triple-fronted brick veneer in Altona (2022), no heritage overlay in sight, and remodelled an Edwardian red brick within one (2023). Period rescue, suburban transformation, overlay compliance: three different briefs, one practice. Registered architect Barbara Yerondais FRAIA leads it; the wider record runs to 35+ years, 400+ projects across Victoria and 59+ heritage approvals, across renovations, extensions, new homes and coastal work.

35+

YEARS

400+

PROJECTS

59+

HERITAGE APPROVALS

PROJECT MIX

Work we take on
around Williamstown

Period restorations and renovations

From single-fronted cottages to the grander Victorians near the water, done so the original fabric leads and the new work defers.

Rear and side extensions

That stay invisible from the street and transform everything behind it.

Coastal-aware upgrades and new builds

This is seafront living, and materials, glazing and detailing are chosen for salt and southerly weather, not for the render.

Adapting maritime-era buildings

Shopfronts and residences in the old commercial grain around Nelson Place, where two-storey Victorian rows still hold the streetscape.

Heritage-area work

Under Hobsons Bay's controls, covered next.

DESIGN & APPROVAL

What every Williamstown
project answers to

The everyday rules first

Setbacks, overlooking and neighbourhood character apply to every project here, protected or not, and near the foreshore, drainage and low-lying-land controls can join them. We confirm the full overlay picture on your lot before design begins.

Coastal exposure is a design constraint, not a mood

Marine air corrodes the wrong materials and punishes the wrong details, so specification is engineering from day one.

The council's published expectations

Hobsons Bay publishes its own Guidelines for Alterations and Additions in Heritage Areas and a Heritage Overlay planning fact sheet; we design to the council's published expectations from the first sketch rather than negotiating against them later.

Grading and precinct context

These set what the street face will accept; the big moves usually happen behind the ridgeline, which suits us, because that is where the planning risk is lowest and the living value highest.

The statutory clock

The 60-statutory-day clock stops for information requests and referrals; our programs assume the real duration, and we tell you so at the start.

Planning something serious for a serious house?

For homes worth doing properly.

BOOK A FEASIBILITY SESSION

THE FABRIC

Why Williamstown work
is its own craft

Williamstown was Melbourne's first seaport, and the building stock still says so: intact Victorian streetscapes, maritime-era commercial rows, and cottages that pre-date most of the city. The lots are mostly modest and the stock mostly detached, weatherboard cottages and brick Victorians with the occasional corner shopfront, which is why renovate-and-extend is the dominant local move: land is scarce, the fabric is valued, and moving means leaving the peninsula village that made you buy here. Add the water and every one of those projects carries a double condition, historic fabric plus coastal exposure, and has to answer both. Barbara's building-science background (around a decade lecturing at RMIT and the University of Melbourne) is the quiet advantage on the second half of that equation.

OUTCOMES

What owners
end up with

A house whose age reads as pedigree rather than burden. An extension the street never sees and the family never stops using. Materials that still look right after ten salt-laden winters. Fees are fixed and agreed before design begins.

COMMON QUESTIONS

Williamstown questions,
answered honestly

What do Hobsons Bay's heritage rules mean for my renovation?

The council publishes guidelines for alterations and additions in its heritage areas, and your property's grading and precinct set the envelope. We confirm your exact controls first and design to the published expectations, which is why our recent Hobsons Bay projects have run smoothly.

How do you handle the coastal side of Williamstown builds?

As engineering, not decoration: material selection, corrosion detailing, glazing and ventilation specified for marine exposure, informed by Barbara's building-science background.

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 Williamstown-wide price guides; scope and site drive the real number, and the feasibility session gives you one for your project.

Have you actually built in this area?

Yes: the Williamstown terrace restoration on this page, plus two Altona projects delivered in 2022 and 2023, all within Hobsons Bay. Same council, same planners, same conditions as your project.

LOCAL KNOWLEDGE

Useful Hobsons Bay
resources

Hobsons Bay heritage guidelines

Guidelines for alterations and additions in heritage areas.

Heritage Overlay fact sheet (PDF)

The council's planning application fact sheet.

Victorian Heritage Database

Check whether a property is heritage listed.

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.