Coombs Blue House – Solar Passive Home Filled With Thor’s Hammer Recycled Ash
March 2023
Luke and Shelley Dickerson are the ultimate power duo when it comes to design and build projects; Shelley is a goldsmith and designer, and Luke has degrees in environmental science and teaching in addition to his carpentry and building qualifications. Luke is also the owner of Bespoke Building Services, an award winning local small business, that specialises in high quality and sustainable building.
With a shared passion for good design, sustainability and craftsmanship, Luke and Shelley have filled their home with big and small custom projects using Thor’s timber.
Their dedication to Thor's mission runs deep, too, having started out browsing for timbers at our old site at the Yarralumla Brickworks, back during their younger years living in Canberra share houses in the early 2000s.
Luke and Shelley’s house though, isn’t your typical new build, completed in 2016 in between running multiple businesses and raising their small family. Each timber feature within the house is a ‘mini-project’, which gives the house a sense of creativity and intrigue that you don’t often see in newer building projects.
Shelley's artistic eye and design skills are noticeable in every aspect of their home, with vibrant colours and pieces by Canberran artists dotted throughout. Luke's attention to detail and skillful craftsmanship can be seen in his bespoke furniture and joinery creations, much of them from Thor’s recycled Australian hardwoods.
Their use of recycled materials and eco-friendly design extends beyond Thor’s timber, from the kitchen table made from an old Canberra high school science bench (including Bunsen Burner holes!), to their kitchen benchtop made from the low-impact layered paper material Paperock. And if that’s all not cool enough, their backyard also includes a forward-thinking, climate-wise whole block water harvesting system below ground.
Shelley and Luke’s home is a great example of ‘slow design’; considered, ethical and intentional, supporting local businesses, saving waste materials from landfill and creating truly unique family spaces.
Explore their home below and reach out if you see something you’d like to work on, together with someone from our extremely talented Design & Sales team.
Interested in salvaged flooring? We have a huge sale going on right now. Check it out.
SALVAGED FLOORING
Luke and Shelley chose to go with a load of Victorian Ash floorboards that our team had salvaged from an old church hall in Moss Vale, in the Southern Highlands of NSW.
Retaining the original nail holes, scuffs and marks gives their newly built, modern home a sense of history and character, tying all the individual timber features together.
“We love this floor so much, with all its perfect imperfections. It immediately brought a sense of gravity and history to our newly built solar passive home. It’s hard to achieve that with a new build, but this flooring tied everything together wonderfully. It even smelled like it had its own history, you know?”—Shelley Dickerson
PRODUCT Salvaged flooring
BUILDER & FLOOR LAYER Bespoke Building Services
TIMBER SPECIES Ash
SOURCED FROM An old church hall in Moss Vale, NSW
SIZE 110mm
QUANTITY 36m2
“We love this floor so much, with all its perfect imperfections. It immediately brought a sense of gravity and history to our newly built solar passive home. It’s hard to achieve that with a new build, but this flooring tied everything together wonderfully. It even smelled like it had its own history, you know?”
FLOATING SHELVES
Built by Luke from our recycled Canberra Local Ash, these floating timber shelves set in front of deep charcoal-blue walls and vibrant local artworks are an understated feature in the family living room.
PRODUCT Building timbers (miscellaneous)
JOINERY Bespoke Building Services
TIMBER SPECIES Canberra Local Ash
SOURCED FROM Canberra house roofs
We have a variety of miscellaneous building timbers for customers with the skills to build and install their own furniture and architectural joinery. We also make a range of custom-designed shelving, built to your specifications.
KITCHEN BENCHTOPS & BATHROOM VANITY
The kitchen and utility area features benchtops made from recycled Mixed Hardwoods (Jarrah and Karri) which were originally old roof trusses from a disused garage. The kitchen benchtop was custom made for Shelley and Luke by Ben Laffan during his time at Thor’s.
With the same timber used for the kitchen benchtop, Luke installed the utility benchtop (the smaller benchtop in the photos), as well as the bathroom vanity with floating sink.
PRODUCT Benchtops + Building timbers (miscellaneous)
JOINERY Bespoke Building Services & Thor’s Hammer
TIMBER SPECIES Mixed Hardwoods & Canberra Local Ash
SOURCED FROM Canberra house roofs
FEATURE STAIRCASE SCREEN + DOUBLE-GLAZED FRONT DOOR
Luke created this stunning feature staircase screen using Ash supplied by Thor’s, adding to both the function and aesthetics of the staircase that leads to their upstairs bedroom and ensuite.
The front door is made from Canberra Local Ash sourced from Thor’s, built by Luke, and is double-glazed to improve energy efficiency.
PRODUCT Building timbers (miscellaneous)
JOINERY Bespoke Building Services
TIMBER SPECIES Canberra Local Ash
SOURCED FROM Canberra house roofs
We have a variety of miscellaneous building timbers available for DIY projects, or we can also build custom joinery, doors and more.
SPLIT-LEVEL IRONBARK DECKING
Luke and Shelley’s outdoor space is impressively lush and expansive (these photos are taken in August, but a couple of months later the yard became much greener!), considering the small suburban block size. They have a split-level verandah made from our Ironbark / Dense Reds decking, installed by Luke. The decking has been left to age naturally which gives it a rustic grey patina.
PRODUCT Decking
INSTALLATION Bespoke Building Services
TIMBER SPECIES Ironbark / Dense Reds
SOURCED FROM East coast house demolitions
LOFT ROOM STAIRCASE & BENCHTOP
Luke and Shelly’s loft room is the newest addition to the house, with an adorable little handmade staircase that leads up to a cosy loft bed, and a benchtop under the telly. Both made by Luke, using our Canberra Local Ash.
PRODUCT Building timbers (miscellaneous)
JOINERY Bespoke Building Services
TIMBER SPECIES Canberra Local Ash
SOURCED FROM Canberra house roofs
We have a variety of miscellaneous building timbers available for DIY projects, or we also offer custom joinery services.
Photography by Byron Smith
Written by Ellie Keft
