Practical design meets architectural flair

With a love for design and suburbia, Darren Spragg is the Senior Designer at BGC Housing Group – his role consisting of designing creative and modern display homes for the company’s Commodore Homes brand.

Mr Spragg, who holds a Masters of Architecture from The University of Western Australia, said he was obsessed with the phenomenon of suburbs and all the planning which went into them.

“It’s a very romantic notion I know, but I love that feeling of driving or walking through a suburb you’ve never been in and trying to understand or appreciate what makes it – what makes it successful and what makes it feel inspiring,” he said.

Mr Spragg said his day-to-day routine consisted of creating concept designs, researching design trends and creating 3D home renders, as well as many other tasks.

“Constantly learning from the talented sales and construction team is critical to my role, and there are so many more awesome people behind the scenes who help with the creation of every home,” he said.

“I really enjoy reconciling the creativity with the pragmatic, being able to show off architectural flair and simultaneously impact some of the most fundamental design aspects of how we live in our suburban housing stock – it’s a match made in heaven for me.”

Mr Spragg said landing a role at BGC Housing Group meant he immediately developed a love for residential design, working on and understanding both meticulously detailed high-end homes, as well as humble, suburban low-cost abodes.

“Understanding what the driving forces are behind our urban and suburban built-fabric was of huge curiosity to me, and learning that the late and profoundly successful Len Buckeridge, founder of BGC, was also an architect reinforced my inspiration toward designing homes, in particular, low-cost housing,” he said.

Mr Spragg said he was proud of every house he had designed, but there were two which stood out as his favourites.

“I’d say it’s a tie between The Asana in Southern River and The Junction in Bushmead,” he said.

“I love the Asana because it’s just a really humble, well-designed family home with an attractive, modern frontage.

“The Junction is equal favourite, as I feel this home is most connected to its natural setting, it’s a genuinely site-responsive design in a fantastic development.”

Mr Spragg also designed the outdoor area of the BGC Home showroom.

“It’s an awesome designer’s playground of curved brick, steel and planting, all folded into one cool new space, and it serves as a break-out/event space for our staff and clients,” he said.

There are some home design aspects which Mr Spragg said he would like to see less of, particularly the process of substituting natural landscapes for paving or concrete.

“I think landscaping is a huge value-add to any project and using natural environment to your advantage is invaluable,” he said.

“Its ability to improve our psychological health, increase perceived value and contribute to the natural ecosystems around us is something I really value.

“I’d like to see less ‘hard’ designing where greenery is reduced, limited gardening space is provided and minimal budget is dedicated to landscaping.”

Mr Spragg said he was seeing this realised through an emphasis on sustainability through design.

“I think the industry is going through an unprecedented movement, where words like ‘sustainability’ and ‘design’ are genuinely accounted for and have real, tangible built outcomes,” he said.

“Adapting to how we build, the density we build at, and the attitudes we have in a time of utmost environmental consciousness is a mindset I feel the sector is taking vigorous action in.”

CONTACT Commodore Homes, 6555 7522, www.commodorehomes.com.au