Red Door Project makes beautiful homes. That's our day job. We're a full-service design and construction outfit, specialising in boutique residential projects. Of course, there are lots of building designers and interior designers out there with yellowtrace and fabric swatches, and builders with Big Ideas who say the same thing. So what makes Red Door different?
Well, for one thing, we're an end-to-end service, which means we can handle everything in-house: architectural building design & drafting, interior design, finishes and furnishing and all the tricky construction details. Our team of designers and chippies can tackle pretty much anything short of a cathedral (and we're happy to give that a crack). We've got a track record of beautiful homes with happy clients scattered throughout Melbourne and beyond.
More important than what we do is how we do it. Red Door Project is a design and construction firm that values honesty, authenticity and good communication. We're a friendly bunch, and we speak like real people, not judges on cooking shows. (No "journeys" here, we promise.)
Time to meet the team. This won't take long – we're a close-knit little family here at Red Door Project so pull up a plush, leather wingback and get ready to read some bios…
If Dan's good with his hands, Dani's good with her eyes. She's a qualified interior design expert with a lot of experience. Her real talent is problem solving: seeing a space's potential, weighing up variables, juggling a thousand little jobs at once. Reading clients' minds also helps.
Dani's design ethos is clean lines, creative textures and a side of quirk. She knows that the real test of interior design is comfort – there's no point having a magazine-worthy living room if you're too scared to touch anything. Her clients appreciate her honesty, sense of humour and (mild) addiction to spreadsheets. Dani really enjoys spreadsheets.
On the daily, Dani can usually be found:
Dan is a 20-year construction professional with one heck of a CV. He's been the leading hand on some of Melbourne's biggest commercial projects, including The Gatwick Hotel, Vue de Monde, The Stokehouse and Port Melbourne's Soap Factory.
Commanding battalions of tradies on TV is fun, but on a day to day basis Dan specializes in high-end residential projects. Settling families into their dream homes. Making sure every detail is millimeter perfect. He's a trustworthy bloke with a big smile, loud laugh and perfectionistic tendencies. Exactly what you want in a builder.
On the daily, Dan can usually be found:
Carpentry has taken Pete all over the world – from his dad's timber mill in South Gippsland to the mountains of Austria. We're lucky to have him back in Melbourne as RDP's Site Supervisor, helping Dan and the wider team with all the on-site construction work.
Pete started his apprenticeship in Gippsland and finished in Melbourne. Then he wrapped his stuff in a bundle, tied it to a stick (more or less), and headed off to Europe, working as a carpenter for big resorts in Austria and Sweden. Pete brings a bit of Scandinavian class to the worksite. He's a sucker for Scandi timber cladding and secretly wishes he was born a Viking. Stay tuned for an amazing beard.
On the daily, Pete can usually be found:
Scott arrived at carpentry via the corporate world, which isn't usually how these things go. After staring at a computer screen for years and watching his eyesight get worse and worse, he swapped the suit for a tool belt and never looked back! Now he's Red Door Project's newest apprentice carpenter. Scott's a hard worker and a quick learner, which are two of the most important things you need in this game.
Scott likes the tangible side of carpentry. You work hard, build this beautiful thing, and there it is. You can walk over and touch it. If he has a weakness, it's technology (Scott reckons he's around 'Grandpa Level' when it comes to tech savviness). It's okay—we don't let him near the spreadsheets.
On the daily, Scott can usually be found:
Say hello to the youngest member of the RDP family: Cooper. He's our bright-eyed, hard-working apprentice chippy. We're chuffed that Cooper has chosen us for his carpentry apprenticeship... (apparently he likes working with a "bunch of grouse blokes". The feeling's mutual.)
Cooper has always liked building stuff with his hands, and now he gets the chance to build architecturally designed homes, with those hands. He's keen to learn, he's a gun footy player, and he can remember smoko orders like you wouldn't believe. We reckon this kid is going places.
On the daily, Coops can usually be found:
If there's one word for Jane's work history, that word is 'epic'. She's dabbled in project management, marketing, FMCG product development and sales (phew), before following her inner stylist and landing a job in design.
Even when she was hustling sales calls, Jane had a soft spot for architecture and design. Whip out a colour wheel and some fabric swatches and – BOOM – she's gone for hours. Jane's love lies in the perfect combination of materials and textures and how they work to transform a space. A big fan of mid-century style, Jane is all about bringing the outdoors in, oh, and anything crazy pave! More importantly, she brings a lot of positive vibes to the RDP team. Jane is our ballet-dancing, colour-coordinating, classical-music-loving ray of sunshine.
On the daily, Jane can usually be found:
After grabbing her Diploma in Interior Design from Swinburne Uni, Ash Clarke worked for a couple of high-end residential firms, before finding her way into the Red Door family. Apparently she wanted an studio that "didn't take themselves too seriously". Yep, that seems about right.
Ash is our newest member of the design team: a country Victorian farm girl with big Vision and big Ideas. For Ash, interior design is all about creating a safe space for people, making them feel at home, working with organic forms to build something warm and beautiful. Think modern minimalism and natural textures, clean lines and surprising colour explosions.
On the daily, Ash can usually be found:
As the Red Door business grew and grew, so did the paperwork. It was time to hire an "accounts person", so Dani turned to the best she knew: her mum, Annette.
With a background in bookkeeping and banking, not to mention a motherly eye for detail, Annette is the paper-filing maestro that keeps the business running smoothly. She handles the accounts, makes sure suppliers are paid on time, and makes sure Dan eats his daily serve of vegetables. What are mother-in-laws for?
On the daily, Annette can usually be found: