Melbourne · Independent journal · How ideas become buildings in Australia
Ground to frame
Buildings are not rendered. They are sequenced. This hub is for the months when a drawing meets clay, rain, trades and a superintendent who wants an answer by Thursday.
Image: Jewish Historical Society of the Upper Midwest. Public domain. See the image credits.
Construction
A residential job in Victoria is a chain of hold points, not a mood board. This essay walks demolition to handover, and says when weather, inspections and trade bookings actually decide the programme.
Tom Rafter · 1 September 2026
Construction
A site meeting is not a tour. It is the hour when RFIs, variations and hold points are made to stand still long enough to be decided. Here is who must be there, what the minutes must bind, and when the superintendent speaks.
Tom Rafter · 3 August 2026
Construction
Scaffold, cranage, sheds, temp power and insurance are not padding. They are the cost of making a site legal and workable. Here is how preliminaries swell, and how clients misread them in a tender.
Tom Rafter · 30 June 2026
Construction
Opening an old wall is a hypothesis about structure, services and what the last renovator hid. This essay covers temporary support, asbestos, voids, matching levels, and the moment you should stop opening.
Tom Rafter · 2 June 2026
Construction
Melbourne's reactive clay and winter rain do not care about your start date. This essay covers AS 2870 site classes, winter pours, access tracks, and how to hold a programme when the ground will not.
Tom Rafter · 21 April 2026
