Buildingsdrawn fromtheir ground.
Oka Ferrand is an architecture studio in Melbourne and Lisbon. We design private houses, residences and places to stay — from the first site visit to the day the keys change hands.
Drawn in 2021. Built in 2024.
Drag across the frame. Every line we set down is a promise to a builder, and we keep the drawing and the finished house on the same line.
Drawing, 2021
Built, 2024
Selected work
Kept the way we keep a drawing register: every project, its place and where it stands today. Hover a row to see it.
Read the plan
Kiln House, ground floor. Choose a room to see how it works, and switch drawing layers on and off the way we do in the studio.
From first visit to handover
A typical new house with us runs about two years. Here is the programme we would draw up for yours. Open a stage to see what you receive.
We walk the site with you at different times of day, survey it, and write down how you want to live — before any drawing begins.
- Measured site survey
- Planning controls review
- Written brief and budget
Two or three genuinely different directions, drawn by hand and modelled in timber, so you can choose with your eyes rather than a spreadsheet.
- Sketch plans and sections
- Physical massing models
- Early cost check
The chosen direction becomes a building: structure with the engineer, materials selected, rooms resolved to the centimetre.
- Developed plans and elevations
- Materials and finishes board
- Photoreal 3D views
We prepare and lodge the application, meet council, and answer every question from neighbours and planners on your behalf.
- Town planning drawings
- Council liaison
- Heritage and landscape reports
The full construction set — often 120 sheets — then a tender to builders we trust, with a like-for-like comparison of their prices.
- Construction drawings and specification
- Joinery and lighting details
- Tender report
We are on site every week, checking the work against the drawings and approving each payment claim until the keys are yours.
- Weekly site inspections
- Contract administration
- Defects list and handover
Five materials, used honestly
We keep the palette short so each material can age well. These are the ones in almost every house we build.
Honed and unfilled, so the stone keeps its pores. Used for floors that run from inside to the terrace without a threshold.
Quarried in Tivoli. 30 mm, honed finish.A fire-resistant Australian hardwood we use for cladding and soffits. It silvers to a soft grey within three summers.
Sustainably certified. Shiplap, 140 mm boards.Poured against rough-sawn boards so each wall carries the grain of the timber that shaped it.
Off-form class 2. Low-carbon mix.For handles, window frames and the edges people touch. It darkens where hands rest most.
Unlacquered, living finish.A breathable mineral paint laid on by brush, so walls read differently at every hour of the day.
Three coats, hand-applied.The studio
“We still start every building with a soft pencil and a site visit at dawn. The software comes later, and it never gets the first word.”
Recognition
- 2025Residential Architecture Award, Houses (New) — Kiln House
- 2025Shortlist, House of the Year — Hollow Point Villa
- 2024Sustainability Commendation — Tidewater Residences
- 2023Interior Design Award, Residential — The Ledger Penthouse
Services
- 01New houses and villas
- 02Renovations and extensions
- 03Apartments and multi-residential
- 04Hotels and hospitality
- 05Interiors and joinery
Start a commission
Tell us about your site and what you hope to build. A director reads every brief and replies within two working days.