Chris Clarke - The Builder

CHRIS'S JOURNEY

It is Saturday 5th February 2011 and Black Saturday cruelly destroys much of Victoria’s landscape.
In the fires path was Chris Clarke's amazing property ‘Callignee’.
Chris had just spent two years building his minimalist timber and steel dream home at Callignee in Gippsland when, less than a week after completion, it was devastatingly razed and all that remained was a concrete slab and a burnt out shell.

Fast forward to 2011 and Chris’s journey has seen him travel from bushfire victim to award winning building.

Callignee II – regeneration has recently been awarded at the 2011 BDAV Awards

Winner: Building Design of the Year 2011
Winner: Residential Design: Alterations & Additions: $200K–$500K
Winner: Best Energy Efficient Design – Residential
Commendation: Best Environmentally Sustainable Design – Residential
Winner: Interior Design – Residential
Winner: Most Innovative Bathroom Design
Joint-Winner: Most Innovative Kitchen Design
Winner: Most Innovative Use of Steel
Winner: Most Innovative Use of Timber

About Swale and Chris Clarke

Chris Clarke, Director of SWALE Developments studied for his Bachelor of Applied Science - Construction Management at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology. It was through his studies that Chris became interested in sustainable construction and living. For the next decade Chris worked as a commercial builder with some of Melbourne's biggest development companies. During this time Chris's passion for sustainable living and development continued to burn. Following a well earned break from high end business construction, Chris walked away from it all and created SWALE Developments. Over the past 10 years Chris has fully devoted himself to sustainable design, construction and living through SWALE Developments and his sustainable building consultancy. SWALE Development homes are individually created to complement the Australian landscape. We design and build using the surrounding environment as the art canvas, making our homes truly amazing and breathtaking. We bring the outdoors in, integrating the environment into our designs. From your water supply through to electricity and even your swimming pool, you can be completely sustainable with SWALE Developments. Just because you embrace sustainability, doesn’t mean you sacrifice lifestyle. In fact the opposite is true, today sustainability has reached a level where it actively enhances our lifestyles. Now just imagine your SWALE home - in a pocket of northerly sun lies your breathtaking lap pool and spa where the water flickers the cherished northerly light through the heart of the living area. Your pool is filled with magnesium mineral salt water that detoxes your body and replenishes magnesium deficiencies. Better still, it is heated with the most current sustainable technology so you can enjoy it all year round.