“Canny are award winning builders in Melbourne, and my association with them goes back a fair way,” explains Kate Walker. “Their home designs are not only a testimony to the quality of their work, but also to the innovation and ingenuity of their team. Some years ago I had the opportunity to work with this incredibly talented design team, offering solutions for Canny in terms of tiles, timber and carpet for one of their new designer homes in Brighton.”
“The tiles for the bathrooms were particularly important and our goal was to find a tile solution that was modern yet very family friendly, with ease of care and low maintenance. The look had to be elegant and high end whilst being functional.”
“We produced a tile specifically for Canny, and that tile is now widely accepted in the marketplace but Canny was the first company to use it in Australia. It was an Italian porcelain stone-inspired tile that had lots of variation and textural inspiration, and was super high end in keeping with the Canny brand. The tile worked in perfectly with the specification created by the Canny design team who are amazing at what they do. Our expertise in hard finishes purely provided a hard finish solution to support their creative vision, so that they installed the right tile with the right properties that matched their aesthetic, based on their brief and their design. We also presented them with carpet and timber solutions to assist them in achieving their final design.”
“Over the years Canny and KWD have collaborated whenever the opportunity arose, and last week I was invited to experience the latest Canny Home design in Brighton, to enjoy a ‘stay and play.'”
“So I invited a close girlfriend to join me for a special girl’s night in – binging on Netflix, drinking beautiful wine and eating Uber Eats.”
“It was fabulous prepping our meal in the incredible kitchen, sitting by the gas log fire, relaxing on the beautiful Jardin furniture and having the best night’s sleep in the master suite with such glorious carpet underfoot.”
“There was such stunning joinery throughout the home, all so perfectly integrated. The piece-de-resistance was the master ensuite, complete with a skylight in the shower, where I must have racked up a huge hot water bill because I just didn’t want to get out!”
“It was such a well proportioned home, so even though it’s very spacious it just wraps around you and makes you feel comfortable and cosy in every room. There’s careful zoning for family living with adult areas, space for the children and shared zones too.”
“Canny are very progressive with their architectural forms and with their interior design, and are particularly forward thinking in terms of space planning and the maximisation of natural light. The ‘turn key’ premise with a start to finish design concept for very busy people is the perfect solution for today’s lifestyle.”
“The pool and the landscape design are always very considered. They understand how families live today, and they design a home with everything that is functional whilst keeping a strong design ethos, like full height doors that maximise the feeling of space, loads of well designed joinery, contemporary mud rooms off the garage and quality finishes throughout.”
“It really is lovely to see more and more Canny houses being built on the Mornington Peninsula. Traditionally Canny has built in Glen Iris, Kew, Brighton, Balwyn and Hawthorn, but the Canny Home design concept is increasingly being seen in Sorrento, Flinders and Portsea. The style of home is so easy breezy, and perfectly suited to the natural landscape of coastal homes and a holiday lifestyle.”
Damian Quigley, Canny’s Group Manager, tells the company’s story, “Canny has been a leader in the designer home industry for many years now, and it all started around 25 years ago when two school friends, Damian Canny and Lachy Watson who were joiners by trade, worked on the cabinetry for a shop fit out. They set up a small cabinetry business and their first commercial job was for a Gazman store in Camberwell. It was so successful that they won the contract for fitting out all of the Gazman stores nationally. They had a factory in Clayton where they manufactured all of their joinery, and everything kicked off from there.”
When Damian started renovating homes with his wife his portfolio quickly grew to working on homes for families and friends, particularly in the leafy suburbs like Malvern, Glen Iris and Kew. From there the team started building custom homes for clients, but Damian’s creativity and vision saw him increasingly wanting to influence the designs and make architectural changes. And so they formed an architectural division.
Canny now have a ‘large project arm’, working on medium density developments like the one they have nearly completed in Port Melbourne with 288 town-homes, and a recently completed development in Doncaster with 174 town homes. Another project with 64 apartments is almost finished as is the beautiful Balmoral Quay in the Marina in Geelong.
Explains Damian, “The Canny Home design division was created by Damian Canny to offer time poor couples and families the opportunity to own a beautiful home without having to worry about things like the tapware or the door hardware or any of the design elements. There are 12 incredible Canny Home templates to choose from, where clients can also ‘tick or flick’ shades, tones and textures to suit their own style and requirements. We also do the externals with driveways, pathways, alfresco paving and swimming pools. And we have teamed up with a fantastic landscaping company that are incredible with landscaping architecture which is so important in completing a home.”
The Canny team is now made up of 12 permanent members, and up to around 48 staff at any one time when they are in the midst of a major project. “People choose Canny because a Canny home is perceived as a high end home,” says Damian, “which is also a significant factor for re-sell value. In fact Canny homes are breaking real estate price records, and achieving the best possible results for home owners.”
“Our clients are time poor, they don’t want to be running around liaising with tradespeople and making decisions about designs and materials. And so many people find it hard to be creative and to visualise what they want. They walk into a Canny design and know immediately that they feel comfortable in the space and that they could happily live in the home. They feel an affinity with the design, and they also know they are buying a property that is not only quality in terms of the layout and all the materials, they also know it’s a brand they can trust.”
http://www.katewalkerdesign.com.au