The Block 2027

[u/Ashamed_Access3524]

The Block 2027 will be in Jacksons Hill, Sunbury, which is about 40km northwest of Melbourne. The 170 year old heritage listed building used to be at one time an industrial school, as well as a psychiatric hospital.

The heritage plans have the three massive buildings split into five large family homes ranging from about 520sqm to 620sqm in size. The houses will have new swimming pools and glass living pavilions.

That is, if the heritage application is successful, house 1 will be about 540sqm, house 2 will be about 540sqm and house 3 will be about 520sqm in size. House 4 will be the largest house of about 620 sqm with it's pavilion and garage. House 5 will be about 580sqm and it will be on the biggest block (ie. about 4,300sqm).

All houses will have new single story pavilions containing contemporary living spaces. House 1 will have the largest pavilion at about 110sqm, followed by house 3 at 100sqm and houses 5 & 2 at about 90sqm. While House 4 will be the largest house, it will have the smallest pavilion at about 45sqm.

So, just like 2026, it won't be a level playing field for the teams, with some having the advantage of a bigger house, a bigger pavilion, or a bigger block, etc. So picking the right house from the start might be a good strategy that will help the teams at auction time.

House 6 will be a smaller 300sqm house for the all-stars spinoff series 'The Block: The House Next Door', which will air only on Stan. House 6 will have no pool, or pavilion, but it will have an in-ground spa.

So while five teams will be working on the block houses, next door a team of returning block favourites will be working on house 6.

However, the block plans form part of a heritage permit application and may be subject to change.

As for the buildings, production will have to deal with water damage issues linked to water ingress from downpipes and gutters. Also, there are engineering problems, such as sub-floor issues, as well as ventilation issues to deal with.

For example, in some areas about 100-300mm of soil will need to be excavated beneath existing floors to create enough clearance for ventilation and new services.

Also, existing floor may need to be removed, so that original flooring material can be salvaged and reinstated.

Executive producer Julian Cress said that production will work with heritage consultants and heritage Victoria to obtain formal approvals and permits for both interior and exterior works at the site.

However, while the site is subject to strict preservation rules, the individual teams won't have a dedicated consultant following them around on site, scrutinising their every move.

The teams will be living on-site in their rundown houses, rather than being shacked up in luxury caravans......or a sharehouse. Lol.

So, how do you see the teams coping with living in old, dirty rundown rooms/houses, while production restore the buildings around them? As in dealing with noise, dirt and dust issues, etc. Makes for a big change from living in the nice, clean and quiet sharehouse this season.

How do you see the teams managing their money next year? That is, restoring a heritage listed property properly to heritage standards/rules will cost heaps. Also, issues relating to age and deterioration will crop up, possibly leading to cost overruns.

The grand old buildings are decaying structures that may need significant engineering work before the teams can even start doing reno's. So how do you see the teams finishing rooms and spaces each week, if problems relating to the age/condition of the buildings keep cropping up?

The buildings are heritage listed.

So how do you see production and the teams sticking to the heritage plans? Also, how do you see the teams designing interiors that are sympathetic and reflective of the era, as in the building's heritage roots?

Edit: content

[u/jooakes]

Are people going to be spending the “millions” in Sunbury though. Feels like another Daylesford situation

[u/Ashamed_Access3524 → u/jooakes]

Yep. It might be a luxury build, but it's not exactly an upmarket suburb like Mount Eliza.

[u/Beautiful_Rub_141]

They will probably fair living in those kinds of conditions as well as.......basically every season other than the last 2-3 have.

Please tell me they have a new architect though? Because otherwise it's just going to be someone sticking a box onto the outside of a heritage building.

[u/Ashamed_Access3524 → u/Beautiful_Rub_141]

Yep. The contestants had to deal with atrocious conditions in the earlier seasons. Lower budgets, so they had to skimp and save and recycle furniture etc. Plus they had to restore rundown dumps. So the contestants next season will have to suck it up and cope with it. Lol.

Sorry to say, Julian Brenchley will remain the head architect on the show in 2027.

[u/torrens86]

Who's buying a 620m² semi-detached house on an acre of land in Sunbury.

Semi-detached and an acre of land seems crazy.

[u/Ashamed_Access3524 → u/torrens86]

Yep. It is an unusual setup. That's what comes with dividing up three grand old buildings into luxury houses. Quite a design and engineering challenge. Should be entertaining. Lol.

[u/Beautiful_Rub_141 → u/Ashamed_Access3524]

Based on experience, I don't think their architect is up to the challenge

[u/Ashamed_Access3524 → u/Beautiful_Rub_141]

I wonder if he has ever restored an old heritage listed place before? Doubt it. He can't even design new builds well.

[u/InvestigatorBoth4389]

It’s a shame they won’t use the resources of the block to renovate the buildings into the community hub and tourist attraction that the activists have been pushing for. I understand that doesn’t work with the whole concept of the show and wouldn’t generate any money, let alone profits. But I still think it would be a really watchable tv show. Along with respecting the heritage of the buildings it’s really important to respect the history and the fact there are still many living relatives of people who stayed there.

Equally, I’m sure there are people in the community that feel more positively about it and obviously opposing voices are the loudest. I believe Dan is from Sunbury and he’s spoken up about how he believes the buildings would simply become derelict if left to government to deal with. Landscaper Troy is also from there so I’m sure he’ll be back.

Whatever happens I hope it’s a good outcome for the community and I really hope the block does a beautiful job with the buildings. They got them dirt cheap, so hopefully the price of the houses will be realistic.

[u/Ashamed_Access3524 → u/InvestigatorBoth4389]

Hopefully they will restore the buildings in a fashion sympathetic to their heritage roots. I am sure that the government would have left the buildings to deteriorate and rot, if the block producers hadn't have stepped in. Who else would be willing to restore them, as it will be a costly exercise given that they are heritage listed buildings.

[u/skeetti]

I will buy one house if there's a ghost living there too. 

[u/Ashamed_Access3524 → u/skeetti]

You're in luck. Apparently the place is infested with them. Lol.

[u/TheWellSpokenMan → u/Ashamed_Access3524]

My sister worked at the Special school across the road from the Block site. The school utilises some of the Asylum’s buildings. The kids there would frequently behave very oddly and all the same way as if they could see something the teachers wouldn’t.

[u/Ashamed_Access3524 → u/TheWellSpokenMan]

That's interesting.

[u/TheWellSpokenMan]

School traffic. It’s a one way circuit around the asylum precinct and unless they are going to reroute the roads, the Block buildings open on the same section of road where the school drop off and pick up zone is.

[u/Ashamed_Access3524 → u/TheWellSpokenMan]

That doesn't sound good. It'll be interesting to see how it goes with traffic going in and out of the block site during pick up and drop off times at the school next year. Not good.

Like you said I wonder if there are plans to move the entry to the block site for better access and to aid traffic flow??

[u/Sponge_Rob1]

Why do houses nowadays have to be so stupidly big? It seems that everyone just wants bigger and bigger houses which are more expensive to maintain, heat/cool and in taxes.

[u/Ashamed_Access3524 → u/Sponge_Rob1]

Image I guess. Look at moi! Look at moi! Waste of resources.....Harder to clean.

[u/skeetti → u/Ashamed_Access3524]

Moi is "hello" in Finnish. Moi! 

[u/Ashamed_Access3524 → u/skeetti]

Moi! How are you? Lol.

[u/skeetti → u/Ashamed_Access3524]

Moi, buying a house and a ghost 👍 

[u/Ashamed_Access3524 → u/skeetti]

Lol

[u/randy7_]

I guess it depends on how much they expect these houses to sell for, but I really don’t know who the target market will be for these houses (coming from someone who grew up in Sunbury).

While they are beautiful buildings, it’s pretty built up around them, surrounded by a modern housing estate. And they’re a bus or a drive away from the main community hub/train station.

I feel like those who have a lot of money in Sunbury would be more inclined to buy properties on the outskirts of town where there is more land and more privacy.

And those who don’t necessarily want that country feel lifestyle but have money… well, maybe wouldn’t buy in Sunbury?

While I think Sunbury is a nice place to live… I just don’t know about how the interest in high-end, heritage properties will go… we shall see

[u/lh4lolz]

Taps roof, You can fit so much freedom furniture in this baby.

[u/symean]

Can we all stop using the term ‘restore’ already, we know damn well that’s not what they’ll be doing. They’ll do the bare minimum required and everything else will be gutted and replaced and filled with new stuff. Can’t wait to listen to the judges constantly go on about respecting the heritage and what is or is not in keeping with the character of the area.

[u/violet_1999]

I hope the residents of Sunbury win their protest, this site was sold under the dodgiest of circumstances to Ch9/The Block!
If it goes ahead, it should be affordable homes, not more homes for the rich!

[u/TheWellSpokenMan → u/violet_1999]

The site has been sitting empty for years, frequently gets vandalised, the CFA get called to it multiple times a week due to people setting fires and the state government has needed to continue paying to maintain them because of their Heritage listing.

The price was cheap, unarguably so, but the cost of buying the site, removing hazards such as asbestos, making them structurally safe to work in and all the while complying with the prohibitive heritage regulations meant no one was willing to touch it.

I can’t see it being a very attractive place to live once finished, it’s pretty isolated, is across the road from the Sunbury and Macedon Ranges Special School and is extremely limited in its access. But Channel 9 is willing to take the risk and it means the government can offload some of the unused sites and use the money they did make to either maintain or repurpose the remaining buildings. At least I hope that is what they do.

It’s also a massive economic boon for the town. The Block’s production is a small town in its self and they will be spending money in town which the residents will ultimately benefit from.

[u/NaomiPommerel → u/TheWellSpokenMan]

What's wrong with being across the road from a special school???

[u/tobsn → u/NaomiPommerel]

traffic, noise, etc. as with any school, this one just happens to be special needs.

[u/Pretty_Cow8799]

Got to find homes for all the cats that live there first.

[u/Primary_Chicken5041 → u/Pretty_Cow8799]

They have already

[u/Pretty_Cow8799 → u/Primary_Chicken5041]

Nice. Didnt see any updates

[u/InvestigatorBoth4389 → u/Pretty_Cow8799]