Timber frame homes Perth.
Designed around how you live, comfortable all year round.
Perth has always built in brick. A well designed timber frame home can be just as comfortable to live in, and highly energy efficient. We design each one around your block, the sun and the way your family lives.
Hazelmere. Lightweight cladding on a passive solar home. See the project.
Is a timber frame home good for Perth's climate?
Yes, when it is designed and built properly. A timber frame home has walls built around a structural timber frame, filled with insulation and clad on the outside with brick, render, fibre cement or weatherboard. That makes it straightforward to insulate well, which is half of what a Perth home needs.
The other half is thermal mass. A frame on its own is light, so it heats up and cools down quickly. Put mass inside the insulated shell, such as a concrete slab floor or internal brick walls, and it stablelises the temperature year-round. It is the same principle behind reverse brick veneer: insulation on the outside, mass on the inside.
Add the correct orientation, glazing and shading, and a timber frame home is a highly energy-efficient home. Get them wrong and it is a light box that swings with the weather. The frame does not decide the outcome. The design does.
That is why we design the insulation, the thermal mass and the orientation together, from the first sketch.
North Perth. Timber cladding and a deck at the back of a City of Vincent home. See the project.
What makes a timber frame home perform
Four things decide how a timber frame home feels to live in. The frame makes the first and third easier. The other two are design decisions.
Insulation through the whole frame
A framed wall is easy to fill with insulation between the studs, and a continuous layer can wrap the outside of the frame as well. The result is a well insulated shell around the whole home.
Thermal mass on the inside
A concrete slab floor or internal brick walls inside the insulated shell absorb heat by day and release it slowly. Without them, a lightweight home heats up quickly on a hot afternoon.
Fewer thermal bridges
Anything solid that crosses the insulation lets heat through. Timber conducts far less heat than steel, so a timber frame leaves fewer weak points in the insulation to design around.
Orientation and glazing
Living areas to the north, eaves sized for the Perth sun and glazing matched to each wall. This is passive solar design, and it matters as much as anything inside the wall.
Timber frame, double brick or reverse brick veneer?
Most Perth homes are still double brick. It is solid and familiar, and with the right design, double glazing and an insulated cavity it can reach 8 stars or more. Its weakness is that the heavy brick sits on the outside, where it soaks up the afternoon sun.
Reverse brick veneer flips that. An insulated, lightweight framed wall wraps the outside, and the brick sits inside, where its mass keeps the temperature steady. It is the method behind our 9 to 10 star homes.
A timber frame home works on the same principle. The frame and its insulation do the work on the outside. How much mass goes on the inside, and where, is a design decision we make for each block.
Lombardy St, Woodlands. 9.4 stars. See the project.
Perth is NatHERS climate zone 13. A 7 star home is allowed 52 megajoules per square metre per year for heating and cooling. Nine stars is 17. Which wall system gets you there depends on the design, the block and the budget, and we will tell you honestly which suits yours.
Why more Perth families are looking at timber frame construction
Perth has long built in double brick, and it relies largely on one major brick manufacturer to supply it. When bricks are short, homes wait. In September 2026, builders reported Midland Brick placing more of its range on allocation (The Good Builder). The WA Government is backing the restart of the Cardup brickworks, but the Housing Industry Association expects the new capacity to take time to flow through, and has asked customers to be patient with their builders (HIA).
A timber frame home relies far less on brick, and when it is designed properly it is a very comfortable home to live in. That is why more families are asking about it. If you are weighing it up, choose a builder who already knows how to make a frame perform. Every reverse brick veneer home we build has an insulated, lightweight framed outer wall, so this is how we already work.
Common questions about timber frame homes
The questions we hear most from people weighing up a timber frame home in Perth.
No. A well insulated timber frame home with thermal mass on the inside and a design that suits the block performs very well in Perth's climate. A frame with no mass inside heats up and cools down quickly, so the design has to include it.
The rating depends on the design, orientation, glazing and insulation far more than on the wall type alone. A well designed timber frame home can comfortably exceed the 7 star minimum. Pairing the frame with thermal mass inside, good glazing and the right orientation is how a home reaches the upper end of the scale.
Termites are present across Perth, so every new home needs termite management under the National Construction Code. For a timber frame home that means termite resistant or treated framing plus a termite management system at the slab, inspected and maintained over the life of the home.
Not with the right detailing. The insulation in the walls also reduces sound, and internal brick walls or acoustic plasterboard can be added where quiet matters most, such as bedrooms facing a busy road.
Yes. Homes in bushfire prone areas are built to the bushfire attack level (BAL) assessed for the site, under Australian Standard AS 3959, which sets the cladding, glazing and construction details. A timber frame home can be built to these levels with the right materials on the outside.
The frame and roof usually go up faster than double brick walls, and the build relies less on brick supply. The overall timeline still depends on the design, approvals and finishes.
Not necessarily. The wall system is only one part of the cost. Size, design, glazing and finishes move the price far more, so we price each home on its design rather than on the frame.
Yes. Passive solar design works with any wall system that combines good insulation with thermal mass inside. Many certified Passiv Haus homes around the world are timber framed, because a frame makes it easier to fit thick insulation and keep thermal bridges to a minimum.
A few of our homes
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Tell us what you have in mind
Share your block and how you want to live. The first conversation is free, with no obligation, and you speak with Marco, the builder, not a salesperson.
- 8 to 10 star NatHERS performance
- Design and build, or build only
- Timber frame, reverse brick veneer or double brick
- Marco oversees every build
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