Townhouse and dual occupancy design. Multiple dwellings, one site
Building designer for multi-unit development across Melbourne's western suburbs
Most residential blocks in Melbourne's western suburbs are carrying a single dwelling on land the planning system will permit to hold two or more. A dual occupancy or townhouse development, designed and permitted properly, turns that potential into rental income, a separate title to sell, or a home for family on the same block as your own. We take multi-unit projects from initial site assessment through to approved construction drawings and a complete permit set.
Dual occupancy and townhouse design. What is the difference
Dual occupancy means two dwellings on one block, commonly called a duplex. A townhouse development involves three or more attached dwellings and generally requires strata or community title subdivision, with correspondingly more detailed planning scrutiny around setbacks, overlooking, private open space, and streetscape impact.
Both project types are worth understanding before committing to one. The right answer depends on your site, your council's planning scheme, and what the development needs to achieve financially.
Can you subdivide your property
It depends on your block. Minimum lot sizes, frontage requirements, council overlays, and vegetation protections all shape what is achievable on a given site, and dual occupancy regulations in Victoria vary by municipality in ways that are not always obvious when reading a planning scheme yourself.
Before any design work begins, we assess your site against the relevant planning requirements for your local council. That assessment tells you clearly whether a dual occupancy or townhouse development is achievable, what the realistic yield looks like, and what conditions any permit approval is likely to carry. Getting that picture accurately from the beginning is worth considerably more than months of planning built on assumptions.
Two homes, one well-considered design
A duplex puts two separate dwellings on a single title, and when the floor plan is designed well, neither one feels like the compromise half of the arrangement. RD Building Design approaches duplex floor plans with both occupants in mind, working out how the two dwellings relate to each other on the site, and how each one connects to outdoor space.
Built faster, built better
RD Building Design specialises in designing homes using Structural Insulated Panels. The construction process takes roughly half the time of a conventional build. Homes stay warmer in winter and cooler in summer. The whole method produces far less material waste on site than traditional framing. It is a smarter way to build.
Every project starts with a brief
RD Building Design works across the full range of residential projects, from a single new home to a multi-dwelling site. Whatever the starting point, the process is the same: understand what you want to achieve, work out what the site will support, and produce the documentation that gets it built.
Start with a feasibility conversation
For investors and property owners assessing a site, the most useful first step is a proper site assessment: reviewing your block against the relevant planning scheme, identifying what yield is genuinely achievable, and mapping the permit conditions a multi-unit application on that site is likely to attract. Bring us your address and your questions.