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OUR STORY
OUR STORY
Born and bred in Stawell, Victoria, Ken's love for renovating was sparked by his parents secondhand furniture business. With plenty of repair jobs needing a tradie, Ken remembers racing home from school as a kid of 10, to get into his work clothes and give them a try. His first machine arrived in 1996 when his parents bravely gave him a small bandsaw for his 13th birthday. During his years at Stawell Secondary College, Ken's taste for sawdust only grew with the access to a full wood-working classroom.
In 2000 Ken moved to Bendigo to complete a 6 month carpentry pre-apprenticeship course before returning to Stawell to labour with a local builder. During that period he was offered, and gladly accepted, a joinery & carpentry apprenticeship at Stawell Joinery. After completing his apprenticeship, Ken headed north on a 12 month trip to Cape York, Australia. Working in Sydney, Townsville and building a house on the Gold Coast has added to Ken's journey and experience in the building industry.
After moving to Melbourne in 2007, Ken completed Cert 4 in Carpentry, becoming a Registered Building Practitioner in 2009 and returning to Stawell to start Grampian Concept Homes. Setting up a joinery workshop in his parents vacant sheds at 3 Sumner Street, Stawell, kitchen manufacture began.
Meanwhile in Bath, England, having studied Art & Design, Dawn decided to head to Australia for a gap year. While travelling and working in the Northern Grampians region, Dawn met Ken in 2010. Ken reckons that Dawn becoming a builder's wife did a pretty good job of filling the gap!
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Dawn joined the building industry in 2012. Loving the potential to explore the latest Australian trends while anchored with a consistent English influence, Dawn is all about classic design over "flash in the pan" fashions. Design that stands the test of time.
By 2016, with a growing team of staff and clients, the time had come for Grampian Concept Homes to spread it's wings. After looking around for a new business premises, we fell in love with the former Stawell Butter Factory. Seeing the potential in this neglected old building we took the leap and soon after began work.
And what a project it has been! During months of hard work and late nights we have naturally found ourselves asking Why? Why are we doing this? Why do we work so hard in the building industry?
clarifying OUR WHY?
We are born craftsmen and women. We love to build and create. It is our gift. Seeing potential in our client's houses or blocks of land and transforming them into functional and inspiring homes is what makes us happy.
Many top performers talk about the need for a good morning routine to ensure peak productivity throughout the day. We believe waking up in a functional, inspiring home will help kick-start any productivity routine out there!
OUR mission
To inspire those considering the challenge of a renovation or building project to just go for it! "Change is Hard at First, Messy in the Middle and Beautiful at the End." - Robin Sharma
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OUR name & butter factory
Designing and building our new business premises in the former Stawell Butter Factory, has helped us to clarify who we are and why we do what we do. Embracing this new chapter in our story we have felt the need for our brand to be congruent with our new found clarify. Hence the birth of
SALTWOOD build
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SALT: An essential mineral in our homes. Used by generations of home-makers for flavouring and preserving food, cleaning, healing and relaxing in baths.
WOOD: Our most versatile and sustainable building material. Whether used for structural wall frames or feature bench tops, we love working with this natural product.
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SALTWOOD build A clear, simple name for a team ready to inspire. Building and renovating are challenges but with a clear vision and the right support, they are challenges well worth embracing.
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