Honesty, reliability, excellence
Lux Building is a Sydney-based builder focused on building both dream homes and strong ties with their clients. They achieve those dual goals by leading their projects throughout every stage of the process, from the first conception to the very last detail. They take their clients through the planning and quoting stage, and then they collaborate with industry-leading trades, architects, and consultants in order to execute their vision to the highest standard. At the end of the day, their mission is to provide both “a luxury dream home,” and a “seamless and enjoyable experience for every client.”
“Every house we build is a direct reflection of our core values: honesty; reliability; and excellence,” says Daniel Hespe, founder and co-director of the company. “We take pride in ensuring the process is as simple for the client as possible and the highest standard of quality is achieved.”
Throughout his entire career in building, Daniel has been working with companies known for delivering high end luxury homes. In 2012, he and a business partner formed Lux Building with the goal of doing that for themselves across Sydney. Due to their existing reputation in the market, they earned some high-end projects straight away, and they quickly demonstrated their capability and ethical approach under their new banner.
Today, Lux Building’s projects can range widely in size and value, as Daniel does not want to be pigeon-holed as a company that only does large scale and expensive homes. He says they judge every prospective job “on its merits, not on its budget.”
“We might take on a $50,000 bathroom renovation,” he says. “If it’s a really nice bathroom, if it excites us, if it gives us the opportunity to do something new with materials or something outside the norm – then that’s something we’ll definitely look at.”
On the other end of the spectrum, Lux Building can take on $4 million new homes – but they won’t just take on such a home because of the high price tag. That kind of job also has to excite and challenge Daniel, Mick and their team.
“It’s not about just doing high-end or large-scale homes,” Daniel says. “It’s about doing something that’s interesting, that’s carefully considered, and that we can execute to the highest quality.”
According to Daniel, the clients who have those interesting jobs – and who are open to new ideas – are drawn to Lux Building by their hard-earned reputation for honesty and reliability. Most of the company’s work comes from referrals, and Daniel believes they earn that word-of-mouth by being communicative and transparent every step of the way – especially in relation to budget, progress, and timeline.
“We’re very open,” Daniel says. “When we’re tendering against other builders, the client usually tells us they’re surprised by how comprehensive our tenders are. We don’t hide anything. We don’t just give them one page. We give them multiple pages breaking down the costs, and that includes everything. That includes the amount of nails or screws we plan on using.”
“We’re completely transparent,” he adds. “We show our clients everything up-front. Because we know when there’s a breakdown in relationships, it’s usually because the communication wasn’t where it needs to be. That doesn’t happen with us.”
That’s important, Daniel continues, because at Lux Building they take pride in building strong and lasting ties with their customers. They want to make sure that any future customer can talk to any past customer and hear only good things.
“We don’t go into a project thinking ‘This’ll be a one-off thing.’ We go into a project as if we’re building a relationship for life. We know we’re only as good as our last job, and our reputation is only as good as what our last client will say about us.”
Again, communication is important to earning those good reviews. Just as important, however, is the quality of the build. Lux Building is equally committed to making sure that they are delivering to a high standard every time.
“A lot of that comes down to being a perfectionist,” Daniel says. “You either have that in you or you don’t, and we definitely do.”
“I learned building from someone who was meticulous, and that was ingrained in me from a very young age,” he says. “We like to deliver a project only one way, and that’s the right way, in my opinion.”
“When we build something, we’re also building it to last,” he adds. “It’s just like the relationships we build with clients. We’re not building so we can make a dollar and get in and out. We’re building homes that will stand the test of time. In 30, 40, even 50 years, our homes should still be standing and they should look just as good as they do now.”
To achieve that longevity and durability in their builds, Lux Building only hires construction managers and supervisors who are highly experienced, and who share the values of Daniel and his co-director Mick Riley.
“We’re lucky to have found people like that in Sydney,” Daniel says. “We’re now establishing ourselves in the Newcastle and Hunter and Region, and we believe we’ve found another person there that meets our criteria.”
Lux Building is also very selective in their choice of direct carpenters and apprentices. The same goes for their roster of subcontractors and trades.
“We set an expectation from the get-go about the level of finish we require, and the way we expect people to carry themselves on site,” Daniel says. “Again, we’re lucky to have found a team that can meet our standards, and that we can trust to do the right thing.”
Once they find the right people, Daniel adds, they tend to stick with them.
“We’re very loyal,” he says. “Every one of the trades we work with now we’ve worked with for multiple years. We don’t see the need to look elsewhere. The people we work with are leaders in their respective fields. They’re known for their quality.”
“Like us, they tend to get a lot of job satisfaction out of delivering these kinds of challenging and high-quality projects,” he continues. “When the project’s done, I think they like taking a step back and seeing the level of craftsmanship we achieved together.”
“At the end of the day, we might get the accolades, but that’s only possible because we have a well-oiled machine behind us,” Daniel says. “That’s the result of a lot of highly-skilled tradesmen and tradeswomen delivering their own respective high-end finishes.”
Looking forward
Currently, Lux Building is working on a mix of new homes and renovations. They like doing both, partly because the smaller projects can keep their team busy in between the bigger jobs, and partly because it gives them the opportunity to try new things and experiment with new materials.
Moving forward, Daniel says the company’s goal is to maintain that diversity, and also to continue growing. As previously mentioned, they recently expanded their operations to include Newcastle and the Hunter Region. There, the vision is to provide the same kind of service and same kind of quality as they do in Sydney.
Despite that expansion, Daniel says that the company doesn’t want to grow too much larger. They never want to take on too many jobs at once and risk compromising their attention to detail or personal service.
“At the moment, we’re big enough that we can take on multiple projects at once, but we’re small enough that we can give every client the attention they deserve,” he explains. “We never want them to feel like they’re just another job. We want to make sure they know how important their project is to us. They’ve put a lot of faith and trust in us, and we want them to know we value that.”
For more on Lux Building, their mission, their projects, and to hear from some of their many satisfied clients, visit https://www.luxbuilding.com.au/