Not every project changes the way a whole house feels. Some change the way a family lives. Project Lunar is one of those.

Our professional clients on the Central Gold Coast had been thinking about it for years. A space of their own – somewhere to train, recharge, and step out of the rhythm of work and family life for an hour at a time. A home gym, but a real one, not a corner of the garage with rubber mats.

What we delivered in 8 weeks in late 2025 was a custom wellness studio that does exactly that. It also happens to double as a guest retreat for visiting family from overseas. One building, two lives.

The brief

When our clients first came to us, the ask was clear:

• A purpose-built home gym with the right floor, the right ceiling height, and the right feel
• A small powder room so workouts could stay self-contained, without crossing the main house
• Plenty of natural light and ventilation – the studio had to feel calm, not industrial
• A design that belonged on the property – not a tacked-on shed, but a building that read as part of the home

The second layer was just as important. With overseas family visiting throughout the year, the studio needed to be capable of hosting guests comfortably when needed. That informed everything from the size of the powder room to the joinery, the climate control, and the finishes.

This is a brief we love. It asks design to do more than one job, and it asks the build to respect the existing home rather than compete with it.

The studio sits seamlessly alongside the original house. From the right angle, you have to look twice to work out where the original building ends and the new one begins. That doesn’t happen by accident.

The build

Eight weeks on site is a tight program for a custom outbuilding with this level of detail. We held it by:

• Locking the design fully before breaking ground – no decisions left for later
• Sequencing trades tightly so each one stepped in as the last one stepped out
• Ordering long-lead items (joinery, fittings, glazing) ahead of when we needed them
• Keeping the client informed at every milestone so design choices didn’t bottleneck

The structure went up cleanly, the roof and weatherproofing closed in fast, and the fit-out moved through plastering, joinery, tiling, electrical, plumbing, and finishing in a rhythm we know well.

By the eight-week mark, the studio was ready to use.

The finished studio

Inside, the gym space is open, generous, and bright. Ceiling height carries the room – it doesn’t feel like a converted shed because it isn’t one; it was designed from day one for what it does.

The powder room is a quiet little gem in its own right – compact, beautifully detailed, and finished to the same standard as the main home. It’s the kind of space where the small decisions show. Tiling lines up, fixtures are flush, and the joinery sits right.

And the multipurpose layer is built into the way it functions. When family arrives, the studio shifts gear – it’s a private, comfortable space with its own facilities, away from the rhythm of the main house, that gives visiting guests their own pocket of the home.

Thinking about a wellness studio, home gym, or granny flat?

Not every project is a full home renovation. Sometimes the answer is one well-designed building that changes how a family uses their property.

A few things we’ve learned from Project Lunar and similar builds that are worth knowing if you’re thinking about something similar:

Design it to belong. A wellness studio, gym, or guest pavilion should sit on the property like it was always meant to be there. That comes from the design call – rooflines, materials, sightlines, eaves, and finish palette have to talk to the main house. A standalone building that screams “addition” pulls value down across the whole block.

Make it multipurpose from day one. The most useful outbuildings are the ones that can serve two or three jobs. Gym today, guest accommodation when family visits, home office when work patterns change, teenage retreat as the kids grow. Design with that flexibility built in – and it pays back for decades.

Get the bones right. Ceiling height, floor structure, ventilation, natural light, and acoustic separation are what separate a great wellness space from a fancy shed. They’re cheap to get right at the design stage and expensive to fix later.

Plan for services from the start. A powder room or kitchenette in a separate building means plumbing, drainage, and electrical have to be planned, costed, and approved properly. We assess this on every project before quoting.

Know what approvals you’ll need. Detached extensions, secondary dwellings, and habitable studios trigger different approval pathways on the Gold Coast. We walk every client through what their project needs.

Ready to think about your own project?

If Project Lunar has you thinking about a wellness studio, home gym, guest pavilion, or any other purpose-built building on your property, we’d love to talk through it. The earliest conversation is the most valuable one – we’ll help you sense-check what’s possible, what’s practical, and what’s worth building.

Get in touch with Dellwood Constructions and we’ll discuss your needs.

A Burleigh family proudly servicing the Southern Gold Coast – from Broadbeach to Coolangatta, Currumbin and Tallebudgera Valley.