NSW Class 2 Registered Builders | Expert Apartment & Strata Renovations
Don’t risk your renovation with unregistered contractors. Nouvelle are fully compliant with the NSW Design and Building Practitioners Act.
Don’t risk your renovation with unregistered contractors. Nouvelle are fully compliant with the NSW Design and Building Practitioners Act.
Plan smarter apartment renovations by understanding fixed utilities. Nouvelle designs and renovates around plumbing, electrical, and gas constraints to deliver practical, compliant spaces. Work with people who can work with your apartment, not against it.
When renovating an apartment, utility connections are not flexible. Plumbing, gas, and electrical points are typically fixed in location and shared between multiple units, which means your layout needs to adapt, not the other way around.
Unlike freestanding homes, apartments rely on shared service infrastructure, such as risers and vertical stacks, that run through core walls. Altering these systems isn’t just expensive, it’s often prohibited by strata or building regulations.
At Nouvelle, we understand these limitations and use them as the starting point for good design.
In most apartment buildings, utility connections were designed to service multiple units efficiently, not flexibly. Pipes, wires, and gas feeds are integrated into common building infrastructure. This includes:
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These services are usually embedded in concrete slabs or structural walls. Moving them often requires:
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Bottom line: You can’t design your dream layout without first understanding what utilities are fixed, and what that means for your plan.
We start every apartment renovation with a detailed audit of your unit’s service access and infrastructure. This allows us to:
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Rather than fighting constraints, we design with them. That means reworking cabinetry, lighting plans, or appliance zones to suit your utilities, not bending utilities to fit a Pinterest board.
We work with licensed trades to execute every utility modification safely and legally.
Utility Type | What You Can Do | What You Can’t Do |
Plumbing | Shift fixtures within a metre (in some cases) | Move plumbing across rooms or through slabs |
Electrical | Add GPOs, install lighting, switchboards (with approvals) | Overload circuits, re-route risers, or breach fire-rated walls |
Gas | Replace cooktops, shift position within range | Add new gas points or move main feed without strata approval |
Drainage | Replace fittings, upgrade trap systems | Cut into common waste stacks without engineering clearance |
Just because your sink, toilet, or oven has to stay in roughly the same place doesn’t mean you’re stuck with a basic layout. We approach constrained apartments creatively by:
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At Nouvelle, constraint-aware design is our specialty. You get a space that looks smart, functions beautifully, and complies fully.
Utility connections are considered part of common property, which means any proposed changes, even minor ones, must go through approval channels.
We manage that process end-to-end. Our team:
You may not be able to relocate your kitchen sink or swap your laundry to the opposite side of the unit, but you can have a space that reflects your lifestyle and taste. The key is knowing what’s possible, what’s practical, and where to focus your investment.
Our apartment renovation experts combine smart design with deep technical knowledge to ensure your project is both inspired and executable.
Not freely. Most utility points are tied to shared services and fire-rated structures. Minor repositioning may be possible, but full relocations typically require approvals and can trigger high costs. We’ll audit your unit to confirm what’s feasible.
Gas lines in apartments are routed through central risers. There are safety regulations around proximity to windows, airflow, and fire-rated enclosures. If your layout doesn’t support safe gas placement, we help you explore electric alternatives like induction.
That’s exactly what Nouvelle will do. We create custom layouts that preserve the integrity of your building’s infrastructure while still delivering upgraded style, storage, and daily usability.
That depends on the scope. Most strata committees require documentation for any changes involving wet areas, gas, or wiring. We handle all strata communication and can advise on what’s typically approved for your building type.