Affordable style
Sapphire Sky Homes is a multi-award winning home design company based in the Albury-Wodonga region of New South Wales. Over the past decade, they have consistently quality homes for clients, promising quality workmanship, flexibility in design solutions, and affordable style.
The company was formed in 2004 by Danny Komadina, a well-known and experienced builder that has worked in the Albury-Wodonga region for more than 30 years. He started Sapphire Sky Homes along with his two sons, James and Tom – both qualified carpenters who have lived almost their whole lives in and around the industry.
Since 2004, the Komadina family and Sapphire Sky Homes have become highly recognised in their region. They have built a well-earned reputation for delivering custom homes that are both high quality and affordable, usually valued between $250,000 and $400,000.
Since coming together, however, the company has also taken on some larger projects – including a recent 7-unit development valued at roughly $1.8 million.
People’s choice
Sapphire Sky Homes fills a niche where style and individuality meets affordability. This sets them apart from many of their competitors, whose standard plans are inflexible, and financially out of reach for most people.
“A lot of our competitors have expensive plans, and people can’t move beyond the scope of them,” says Tom. “With us, clients have the flexibility to design the house they want within their budget. Not only can we build custom home for clients, but we can put together a unique plan for their lifestyle requirements.”
Sapphire Sky has several display homes in the region – including one in the quiet hills of Wodonga’s Whenby Grange, and a townhouse display in Lavington. Clients can visit these sites and see the company’s quality of work in person, and be inspired by the features on display. At the same time, they are not limited by what they see. According to Tom, the display is merely a jumping off point.
“Having display homes in the region gives us an advantage because we can interact with new clients who haven’t seen our products before,” he says. “They a can view our product and see what we do differently.”
Another aspect of Sapphire Sky Homes that sets the company apart is the value they place on honesty and transparency. They want the client to feel comfortable at all times, and they don’t want there to be any surprises at the end of the day.
“We highly value communication in the building process,” Tom says. “We like to deal directly with clients before they sign contracts so they fully understand what goes on during the building process.”
“Over the 30 years our family has been doing business in this region, we’ve always dealt as honestly as possible with people,” he adds. “We’ve always tried to maintain integrity in our dealings in the community.”
In addition to having in-depth discussions during the design phase, clients are invited to site meetings throughout the building process to stay updated on the project.
“Often times, people can’t visualise a house from looking at paper plans,” Tom says. “So it’s important to keep thephysical form of communication open.”
Industry recognised
Over the years, Sapphire Sky Homes’ high quality has been consistently rewarded by repeat work and industry accolades.
“We often get recommended as home builders through existing clients who tell their friends,” Tom says. “That’s more important to us than setting up signs or advertising campaigns. A high quality product is the best way to market yourself to clients.”
At the 2013 Southern Central Regional MBA Awards, that quality was recognised with the award for Best Display Home Under $250,000, for their display in the Wattle Glen Estate of Wodonga. Tom says the company is very proud of that recognition, particularly because of the challenging allotment of land they had to build on.
“The display home is on a small allotment,” he says. “We angled the front façade in a way to show that we can achieve luxury aesthetics in our designs, yet still be affordable.”
The home, created specifically to suit the small block of land, was awarded by judges for the contemporary look of the façade, the unobstructed views of scenery, and the quality of materials. The house also uses natural light, timber, water, and stone to make the house appear to extend beyond its clearly defined walls.
In years past, Sapphire Sky Homes had opted against entering their projects for awards. They were persuaded by the interest of the MBA, and Tom says they are glad they came around.
“When we won our first award, it seemed to add another dimension to our business,” he says. “Our peers recognized our high quality work, and it testifies to our standing in Wodonga.”
Expanding horizons
According to Tom, Sapphire Sky Homes’ success in 2013 has made the company excited for the future. Moving forward, he sees the company continuing to grow whilst maintaining their high quality workmanship and integrity in dealings with clients.
“We have the capacity to expand our horizons,” he says. “Ideally, we would like to increase the volume of houses we do by 50 per cent and expand on our designs and style. But we would also like to continue investing in buildings so we can design, build, and sell them.”
Currently, the company is committed to an upcoming display home in Whitebox Rise. Recently, they also signed a contract for a display village in 2015.
“Those displays are how we interface with the public,” Tom says. “We plan to use those to sell more houses and expand our business that way.”
