May 18, 2025 • 16 mins
- Now the election is done, and the dust has (mostly) settled, the Trump craziness has also gone away for a bit, what’s install for our interest rates? Michael Yardney, CEO of Metropole Property Strategists called in to discuss
- Brad Holroyd, Director at Pietra Bianca shared his extensive knowledge about free standing, designer bathtubs
- David Hobbes, retired architect, heritage consultant and member of the ACT Heritage Council provides a history lesson on the famous Canberra Red Brick
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
Cameron Renee's Real Estate Show on Mix one oh six
point three be the Envy of Camera Live in de
Berg at Northbourne Village by JW.
Speaker 2 (00:09):
Land now selling cam it' stein for another real estate
show podcasts.
Speaker 3 (00:13):
Yes, indeed, each and every Saturday morning, it's awesome sitting
up in the studio speaking to our guests on the radio.
But then through the wonders of technology, we get to
relive it all someome really interesting guests on Saturday that
we get to listen to.
Speaker 4 (00:27):
Now.
Speaker 3 (00:28):
Michael Yardney, CEO of Metropol Property Strategists, was talking about
what's going to happen with the interest rates now that
everything sort of politically has the dust is sort of settle.
Speaker 2 (00:38):
Yeah, settling, isn't it? Well, yes, yeah, if you like.
Speaker 5 (00:41):
And I think so many people are wondering, you know,
what's happening with that? So we're going to get him
to get his crystal ball out as.
Speaker 2 (00:47):
We like to do.
Speaker 3 (00:48):
Designer bathtubs and I get to go into some pretty
fancy homes with the Zango videos that we recorded, and
I saw I saw one through the week a designer bathtub,
and I just went, well, we've never spoken about bathtubs
in the real estate before, I.
Speaker 5 (01:00):
Know, and so we chatted about that and you know,
the different types and getting them in and some of
the ones you see a real sort of a vintage
style these days as well.
Speaker 2 (01:10):
So that was an interesting.
Speaker 3 (01:11):
Chat for sure, indeed, and something that we've been wanting
to do for so long. And of course we've talked
about the famous Camber redrick on many occasions, but we've
never actually had an expert to get on and speak
about the history of them.
Speaker 5 (01:23):
Yeah, and so you both you and I wanted to
chat about this. I'd seen a Grand Designs episode with
my partner Jim to a property in Sutton that had them,
that used them, and so you saw it as well
in a recent place.
Speaker 3 (01:35):
That's right, David Hobbes retired to architect Heritage each consultant
and member of the Act Heritage Council joined us and
told us everything that.
Speaker 4 (01:44):
He knew about the famous canbra red brick.
Speaker 2 (01:46):
So enjoy our podcast this week.
Speaker 4 (01:48):
Mixed one O six point three.
Speaker 5 (01:50):
Well came, of course, with the Labor Party securing another
term in government in the recent federal election, A lot
of the focus for me people now turns to what
does this mean for property, the economy and interest rates
being a big one of court and so of course
we need to ask those questions to our regular property commentator,
Michael Yarney, the founder of Metropol, Property Strategist and host
(02:12):
of the Michael Yarny podcast.
Speaker 2 (02:13):
Michael, good morning, Good morning Renee.
Speaker 5 (02:15):
Now look tell us what does the Labor Party win
mean for our housing markets.
Speaker 6 (02:20):
Well, the Labor Party has said we're going to have
a big Australia. They're going to keep immigration up and
I believe that's a good idea. Having said that, though
where are all these people going to live? We're not
building enough accommodation now. They've also come up with some
policies to help first home buyers, and on the one
hand that looks good. For example, from the beginning of
(02:41):
January next year, with a five percent deposit, most first
home buys, as long as they can afford the serviceability,
are going to be able to buy a home. And
each state has different limits of how much it would
cost O and Sydney, for example, up to one and
a half million in Melbourne, up to me in in Canberance. Less.
The thing is though, that that's going to fuel the
(03:04):
flames of our housing market because people are going to
be able to maybe get some money from the bank
of Mum and Dad and have a bit of a
stamp duty and so yes, that'll help first home buyers
get in, but that's also going to push up prices,
because when you give people more money or the ability
to borrow more, they spend it. It'll help one round
of first home buyers, but the next round are going
(03:26):
to just have to find even more money to get
into the market.
Speaker 5 (03:30):
Rerene, gotcha, okay, And moving now to interest rates. We
have the next announcement happening next week. There's lots of
speculation that the RBA will drop rates next week.
Speaker 2 (03:41):
What do you say about that.
Speaker 6 (03:42):
Well, yes, I think they will, and in fact the
banks do as well. A number of banks have already
dropped their borrowing rate in anticipation of this. How much
interest rates are going to fall over the next year varies.
Everyone agrees that they are going to fall. The Reserve
Bank now has got inflation under control. It's falling within
(04:03):
their range. The CBA bank things we're going to have
three car Sister's, West Pak and A and ZAID. But
last week Sally Old, the chief economist of National Australia
Bank thought we were going to have five rate cuts
in the next year, which is going to bring interest
rates or the Reserve Bank straights down to two point
six percent. All this is going to again put fuel
(04:26):
on the housing markets because if mortgages are cheaper, and
if you're not worried that you're going to get caught
in rising interest rates, I think more people are going
to get into the housing markets, and the trouble is
we're just not building enough accommodation for them.
Speaker 5 (04:39):
All.
Speaker 3 (04:40):
It's a really interesting landscape, isn't it, Because I mean,
after all the Trump thing happened and the world looked
like it was going to implode off the back of
the tariffs and everything. It was almost like a knee
jerk reaction that interstates were starting to be talking about
with And now though, as Renee said, the dust sort
of settled a little bit on that interesting that they
(05:01):
are still considering.
Speaker 6 (05:03):
You're saying five, Well, the bottom line is we've got
to drop interest rates because we don't need to restrict
our economy anymore camp because inflation's under control. So probably
three drops would mean that would be at that Goldilocks level,
not too high. To restrict us not too low to
stimulate us. But the National Australia Bank obviously is concerned
(05:25):
about our economy still, that's right because for them to
drop interest rates five times, they're concerned that, whether it's
the Trump effect or the overseas issues will slow our
economy and it suggests that we may need to stimulate
it with lower rates to keep agrees seeing the wheels
of industry.
Speaker 2 (05:42):
Yeah, indeed, but we'll see what happens.
Speaker 5 (05:44):
But I'm pretty sure what you've said this morning is
going to be music to the ears of many mortgage holders.
Speaker 2 (05:49):
People wanting to get at the market who are listening
this morning.
Speaker 6 (05:51):
Yeah, one suggestion to finish off if you can get
in before January, because that's when a whole group of
new first home buys with special scheme are going to
be able to afford to get in the market and
that'll push prices up a window of opportunity in the
next six months.
Speaker 7 (06:08):
Here you go.
Speaker 5 (06:08):
Okay, there you guys, some very good advice there, Michael,
thank you for your time.
Speaker 2 (06:11):
Have a great weekend, my pleasure. Thank you.
Speaker 5 (06:14):
Michael Yarney, who's the CEO of Metropol Property Strategy. Well
Cam we're about to chat about designer bathtubs. Tell me
how this came about.
Speaker 3 (06:21):
So this is something I just was flicking through some
of the real estate on my websites and something came
up and I looked at it and I went, wow,
I think I saw a bathtub like that in a
recent house that we've done one of our Zango videos in.
Speaker 4 (06:35):
And it's just like, Yeah, why don't we speak about bathtubs?
Speaker 3 (06:38):
I mean, they look fancy, the ones that sort of
sit there by themselves and have the beautiful brass fittings
that come over the top of that. It's just like
there must be someone who either provides them, makes them,
knows everything about them, and of course there's plenty there.
Speaker 5 (06:51):
Is, and we're about to ask all those questions and more.
Brad Holroyd, director at Pietro Bianca. That sounds pretty fancy yourself,
doesn't it. On the line are good morning?
Speaker 8 (07:01):
How are you good mornings? I fine, thanks?
Speaker 3 (07:04):
How are you?
Speaker 7 (07:04):
Yes?
Speaker 2 (07:05):
Good? Thank you.
Speaker 5 (07:05):
Now, look, let's get stuck right into it. How popular
are free standing bathtubs in Australia?
Speaker 8 (07:12):
Okay, well, free standing bathtubs have become extremely popular in Australia.
They become the signature element of any modern bathroom. They're
frequently used by homeowners and architects, designers. They become the
signature piece of a bathroom. And a lot of people
(07:32):
are buying our baths because they come in such many,
so many colors. We've actually got twenty standard colors and
a lot of people are just buying our baths and
then designing the bathroom around our bar. So a free
standing bath these days are extremely popular in Australia.
Speaker 4 (07:49):
And so do you make them? Where do you get
them from? And how are they made?
Speaker 8 (07:54):
Okay, So our bass come out of Indonesia. We own
a factory over there, so we've been reducing for about
the last ten years. And yeah, they come out out
of Indonesia, Central Java, Indonesia and we export them back
to Australia and globally as well.
Speaker 2 (08:09):
Wow. Yeah, that's so interesting.
Speaker 5 (08:11):
And Brad, is there sort of one recurring question that
you're often asked about free standing bathtubs?
Speaker 8 (08:18):
Yes, so, usually with free standing bathtubs, particularly stone free
standing bath tubs, it's the size and the weight, and
some people are concerned about access and how they're going
to get them into their bathroom. So we do guide
them through the whole process. We try to help with
the design and something that's going to fit their bathroom
(08:40):
and also something that's going to fit into their bathroom.
So sometimes that access can be a problem and we
guide them through that.
Speaker 2 (08:47):
Just on that how do they get them in?
Speaker 3 (08:49):
Because some of the houses that I get to go
into to record videos in real estate videos, it feels
as though the bathroom has been built around the bathtub.
Speaker 8 (09:00):
That's right, that's right. A lot of the time they
are installed before the bathroom has been all is complete.
A lot of times they're craned up as well when
they're going house or something like that. But most of
the time it's manpower and up the stairs.
Speaker 2 (09:18):
Wow, yeah, just the old school way.
Speaker 5 (09:20):
Can and Brad, what's the trickiest place you've had to
get one of your bigger bath tubs.
Speaker 2 (09:26):
Into a case?
Speaker 8 (09:29):
So probably the trickiest place would probably have been in
an old heritage building in Sydney. It was a penthouse installed.
We didn't have crane access on that one, so it
went up the stairs or special rigging made up to
get it up. They used a couple of big guys
turned the bathroom up. So I can carry it up
(09:50):
about half a day, but once it was installed it
was all worth the whole work.
Speaker 4 (09:54):
Wow. And just before we finish up with you, Pietro Bianka.
Speaker 3 (09:59):
That is a really cool name and there's an awesome
story behind that name of the business as well.
Speaker 8 (10:04):
Ah okay, well, petro Bianca means white stone in Italian.
Speaker 2 (10:09):
So gotcha.
Speaker 8 (10:10):
We wet with that name. We thought it would match
our products because we are stone bar manufacturer and we
do make white bar, white stone bar.
Speaker 2 (10:21):
Nice. I love that, all right, Brad, Well, this is
so interesting.
Speaker 5 (10:24):
I feel like we could all for much longer about this,
but we do have to leave it there.
Speaker 2 (10:28):
But thank you so much for sharing that with us.
Very cool. You're welcome, Thank you very much.
Speaker 5 (10:33):
That's Brad olroyd, our director at Pietro Bianca. You can
look at their website I did just before, pietro Bianca
dot com dot are you The bars are very very
cool one hundred percent.
Speaker 4 (10:41):
And of course I asked that question about the name.
Speaker 3 (10:43):
All of our Italian listeners, they would have already known that.
Speaker 2 (10:46):
Of course they would have known that you and I
we've got to ask the question.
Speaker 3 (10:50):
But I mean, yeah, speaking of Brad, there that's a
great conversation. And they, like you say on the website,
they look super special, don't they.
Speaker 5 (10:58):
And they've got ones that look identical to the sink
like on the bait. Yes, it's amazing what they do well.
Speaker 7 (11:03):
Cam.
Speaker 2 (11:04):
The next topic we're.
Speaker 5 (11:05):
Going to discuss is something we've both wanted to explore
for a while. Some stoked we're here today, the history
of the Canberra Red Brick. Now, my partner Jim in particular,
loves watching Grand Designs and I'll watch it with him
sometimes and we watched one a while ago a property
that was built out at Sutton and they'd incorporated the
(11:25):
iconic Canberra red brick.
Speaker 2 (11:27):
And you saw it recently.
Speaker 3 (11:29):
Too, absolutely, And I go into all sorts of different
homes and properties shooting the Zango videos that we do,
and on especially not just in a sort of Ainsley
style houses that have been redone houses everywhere. In fact,
I went to one in Fod a couple of weeks
ago and as you walked in on the right hand side,
it had a two story feature wall that was built
(11:52):
from Cambra reds they call them if you like, yes,
and some of the areas had been turned out so
you could see the brick and the Canbra stef MP
on it and it was just such a special feature
and I thought we need to do some investigator. It's
taken a couple of weeks to find the right person
to talk about the camber reds, but we've done that
right now.
Speaker 5 (12:10):
Yes. David Hobbs a retired architect, heritage consultant and member
of the Act Heritage Council.
Speaker 2 (12:17):
Hi, David, Hi, Now.
Speaker 5 (12:19):
Look, can you give us a brief history of the
Canberra red brick Yeah?
Speaker 7 (12:23):
Sure, The canber red bricks were produced for sixty years
at the ar Alumla Brickworks. It's become iconic in its
own right down there at Yarralumla with the tall red
brick chimneys built themselves of Canberra red bricks. Of course. Yes,
the brickworks is one of the original infrastructure projects to
build the new city of Canberra. So you had the Brickworks,
(12:45):
you had the Kingston Powerhouse, you had the Cotta Dam,
and it was set up to build to make the
bricks that were going to build the young city.
Speaker 3 (12:52):
Okay, and so back in the day they would have
just been bricks, wouldn't they. But now there's something more
to it, isn't there.
Speaker 7 (12:59):
That's right, have just been bricks, And in fact, many
people may not know that the Canberra the classic camber
read is the brick that built all of the original
buildings of Canberra, including Old Parliament House, the West Brock,
Sydney and Melbourne buildings. But of course a brick was
a brick, and it was considered to be pretty utilitarian,
and for the most part it was covered up with
(13:19):
red and door or stucco or paint.
Speaker 3 (13:22):
And so you're saying, let's say, Old Parliament House in
behind all that white paint and render and everything is
a million red Canber red bricks.
Speaker 7 (13:30):
Well it's documented four million.
Speaker 4 (13:32):
Wow, there you go.
Speaker 5 (13:34):
And so you said, in a lot of those buildings
that you mentioned, it's covered up with paint and now
but people now are wanting to get these bricks into
their homes and have them on full display, celebrate.
Speaker 7 (13:45):
Them, absolutely right. And I think that's partly because we
don't have a big history of sort of industrial production
in Canberra. We're not known as a place that makes anything,
and the red brick is one of the rare things
that we do have to call our own.
Speaker 3 (14:01):
And so for you as a sort of former architect
as well. It must be kind of cool to have
this sort of product that has the history attached to
it now becoming something that people are looking to include
into structures.
Speaker 7 (14:14):
Absolutely, and they're quite sought after. They're getting more and
more pricey to get hold of because of course they
ceased being produced in the mid seventies.
Speaker 4 (14:23):
And so can you still get them.
Speaker 7 (14:25):
You can't buy them like presh off the press. You
can only get the most salvage reclaimed bricks from demos.
Speaker 5 (14:32):
Okay, So a previous building, if it's getting torn down
or whatever, if you're lucky enough to be able to
get some from that, that's how it happens.
Speaker 7 (14:39):
That's how it happens. And I mean the heyday. I
mentioned the early years of the old iconic original Canberra
buildings with the red brick, But then the real heyday
came in the fifties and sixties when the classic Govies
were built, mostly in the Inner North and the Enner South.
And what's happening these days is a lot of those
areas are being redeveloped with knockdown rebuild so that's where
(15:01):
the bricks are becoming available. But there's a bit of
an effort in demolishing the house carefully so that you
don't damage the bricks, and then removing render or chips
or anything and cleaning the bricks up so that they're
ready for resale.
Speaker 4 (15:14):
And that's why they're not cheap per brick.
Speaker 7 (15:17):
They are not cheap per brick. They're about if you
think of your typical sort of house brick that you
build a normal house with, the Canberra reds are about
twice the price.
Speaker 3 (15:26):
Yeah, got you, but that's fair enough, like with everything
that you have to do to requaim it.
Speaker 7 (15:31):
Now, that's right, And that's why you see, I mean
you rarely, you would rarely see someone build an entire
house of Canberra red as they used to be. People
are using them, as you mentioned, as features a limited number.
Often they love the sort of because they demonstrate the
history of Canberra too. Your red bricks have probably got
(15:51):
the odd chip on it, a bit of an old
paint color from somewhere that it used to be, little
imperfections and things, and of course you mentioned the old
Cambra common Wealth stamp.
Speaker 2 (16:01):
Yes, that's what makes it special though, wasn't it.
Speaker 5 (16:03):
And what a talking point in a home if you're
lucky enough to be able to get your hands on some.
Speaker 2 (16:07):
All right, David, Well, yeah, that was super interesting. Thanks
for sharing that with us.
Speaker 7 (16:11):
That's all right, no problem.
Speaker 5 (16:12):
That's our David Hobbs, who's a retired architect, heritage consultant
and member of the ACT Heritage Council.
Speaker 2 (16:17):
How cool is that?
Speaker 3 (16:19):
Well, those are the interviews we most enjoyed in last
week's Mix one o six point three real Estate Show.
If you love hearing about the latest trends, or you're
just up for a sticky beak, be sure to drop
by for a listen this Saturday between nine and ten
Jam and
Speaker 1 (16:32):
Rene's Real Estate Show on Mix one oh six point
three
Cameron Renee's Real Estate Show on Mix one oh six
point three be the Envy of Camera Live in de
Berg at Northbourne Village by JW.
Speaker 2 (00:09):
Land now selling cam it' stein for another real estate
show podcasts.
Speaker 3 (00:13):
Yes, indeed, each and every Saturday morning, it's awesome sitting
up in the studio speaking to our guests on the radio.
But then through the wonders of technology, we get to
relive it all someome really interesting guests on Saturday that
we get to listen to.
Speaker 4 (00:27):
Now.
Speaker 3 (00:28):
Michael Yardney, CEO of Metropol Property Strategists, was talking about
what's going to happen with the interest rates now that
everything sort of politically has the dust is sort of settle.
Speaker 2 (00:38):
Yeah, settling, isn't it? Well, yes, yeah, if you like.
Speaker 5 (00:41):
And I think so many people are wondering, you know,
what's happening with that? So we're going to get him
to get his crystal ball out as.
Speaker 2 (00:47):
We like to do.
Speaker 3 (00:48):
Designer bathtubs and I get to go into some pretty
fancy homes with the Zango videos that we recorded, and
I saw I saw one through the week a designer bathtub,
and I just went, well, we've never spoken about bathtubs
in the real estate before, I.
Speaker 5 (01:00):
Know, and so we chatted about that and you know,
the different types and getting them in and some of
the ones you see a real sort of a vintage
style these days as well.
Speaker 2 (01:10):
So that was an interesting.
Speaker 3 (01:11):
Chat for sure, indeed, and something that we've been wanting
to do for so long. And of course we've talked
about the famous Camber redrick on many occasions, but we've
never actually had an expert to get on and speak
about the history of them.
Speaker 5 (01:23):
Yeah, and so you both you and I wanted to
chat about this. I'd seen a Grand Designs episode with
my partner Jim to a property in Sutton that had them,
that used them, and so you saw it as well
in a recent place.
Speaker 3 (01:35):
That's right, David Hobbes retired to architect Heritage each consultant
and member of the Act Heritage Council joined us and
told us everything that.
Speaker 4 (01:44):
He knew about the famous canbra red brick.
Speaker 2 (01:46):
So enjoy our podcast this week.
Speaker 4 (01:48):
Mixed one O six point three.
Speaker 5 (01:50):
Well came, of course, with the Labor Party securing another
term in government in the recent federal election, A lot
of the focus for me people now turns to what
does this mean for property, the economy and interest rates
being a big one of court and so of course
we need to ask those questions to our regular property commentator,
Michael Yarney, the founder of Metropol, Property Strategist and host
(02:12):
of the Michael Yarny podcast.
Speaker 2 (02:13):
Michael, good morning, Good morning Renee.
Speaker 5 (02:15):
Now look tell us what does the Labor Party win
mean for our housing markets.
Speaker 6 (02:20):
Well, the Labor Party has said we're going to have
a big Australia. They're going to keep immigration up and
I believe that's a good idea. Having said that, though
where are all these people going to live? We're not
building enough accommodation now. They've also come up with some
policies to help first home buyers, and on the one
hand that looks good. For example, from the beginning of
(02:41):
January next year, with a five percent deposit, most first
home buys, as long as they can afford the serviceability,
are going to be able to buy a home. And
each state has different limits of how much it would
cost O and Sydney, for example, up to one and
a half million in Melbourne, up to me in in Canberance. Less.
The thing is though, that that's going to fuel the
(03:04):
flames of our housing market because people are going to
be able to maybe get some money from the bank
of Mum and Dad and have a bit of a
stamp duty and so yes, that'll help first home buyers
get in, but that's also going to push up prices,
because when you give people more money or the ability
to borrow more, they spend it. It'll help one round
of first home buyers, but the next round are going
(03:26):
to just have to find even more money to get
into the market.
Speaker 5 (03:30):
Rerene, gotcha, okay, And moving now to interest rates. We
have the next announcement happening next week. There's lots of
speculation that the RBA will drop rates next week.
Speaker 2 (03:41):
What do you say about that.
Speaker 6 (03:42):
Well, yes, I think they will, and in fact the
banks do as well. A number of banks have already
dropped their borrowing rate in anticipation of this. How much
interest rates are going to fall over the next year varies.
Everyone agrees that they are going to fall. The Reserve
Bank now has got inflation under control. It's falling within
(04:03):
their range. The CBA bank things we're going to have
three car Sister's, West Pak and A and ZAID. But
last week Sally Old, the chief economist of National Australia
Bank thought we were going to have five rate cuts
in the next year, which is going to bring interest
rates or the Reserve Bank straights down to two point
six percent. All this is going to again put fuel
(04:26):
on the housing markets because if mortgages are cheaper, and
if you're not worried that you're going to get caught
in rising interest rates, I think more people are going
to get into the housing markets, and the trouble is
we're just not building enough accommodation for them.
Speaker 5 (04:39):
All.
Speaker 3 (04:40):
It's a really interesting landscape, isn't it, Because I mean,
after all the Trump thing happened and the world looked
like it was going to implode off the back of
the tariffs and everything. It was almost like a knee
jerk reaction that interstates were starting to be talking about
with And now though, as Renee said, the dust sort
of settled a little bit on that interesting that they
(05:01):
are still considering.
Speaker 6 (05:03):
You're saying five, Well, the bottom line is we've got
to drop interest rates because we don't need to restrict
our economy anymore camp because inflation's under control. So probably
three drops would mean that would be at that Goldilocks level,
not too high. To restrict us not too low to
stimulate us. But the National Australia Bank obviously is concerned
(05:25):
about our economy still, that's right because for them to
drop interest rates five times, they're concerned that, whether it's
the Trump effect or the overseas issues will slow our
economy and it suggests that we may need to stimulate
it with lower rates to keep agrees seeing the wheels
of industry.
Speaker 2 (05:42):
Yeah, indeed, but we'll see what happens.
Speaker 5 (05:44):
But I'm pretty sure what you've said this morning is
going to be music to the ears of many mortgage holders.
Speaker 2 (05:49):
People wanting to get at the market who are listening
this morning.
Speaker 6 (05:51):
Yeah, one suggestion to finish off if you can get
in before January, because that's when a whole group of
new first home buys with special scheme are going to
be able to afford to get in the market and
that'll push prices up a window of opportunity in the
next six months.
Speaker 7 (06:08):
Here you go.
Speaker 5 (06:08):
Okay, there you guys, some very good advice there, Michael,
thank you for your time.
Speaker 2 (06:11):
Have a great weekend, my pleasure. Thank you.
Speaker 5 (06:14):
Michael Yarney, who's the CEO of Metropol Property Strategy. Well
Cam we're about to chat about designer bathtubs. Tell me
how this came about.
Speaker 3 (06:21):
So this is something I just was flicking through some
of the real estate on my websites and something came
up and I looked at it and I went, wow,
I think I saw a bathtub like that in a
recent house that we've done one of our Zango videos in.
Speaker 4 (06:35):
And it's just like, Yeah, why don't we speak about bathtubs?
Speaker 3 (06:38):
I mean, they look fancy, the ones that sort of
sit there by themselves and have the beautiful brass fittings
that come over the top of that. It's just like
there must be someone who either provides them, makes them,
knows everything about them, and of course there's plenty there.
Speaker 5 (06:51):
Is, and we're about to ask all those questions and more.
Brad Holroyd, director at Pietro Bianca. That sounds pretty fancy yourself,
doesn't it. On the line are good morning?
Speaker 8 (07:01):
How are you good mornings? I fine, thanks?
Speaker 3 (07:04):
How are you?
Speaker 7 (07:04):
Yes?
Speaker 2 (07:05):
Good? Thank you.
Speaker 5 (07:05):
Now, look, let's get stuck right into it. How popular
are free standing bathtubs in Australia?
Speaker 8 (07:12):
Okay, well, free standing bathtubs have become extremely popular in Australia.
They become the signature element of any modern bathroom. They're
frequently used by homeowners and architects, designers. They become the
signature piece of a bathroom. And a lot of people
(07:32):
are buying our baths because they come in such many,
so many colors. We've actually got twenty standard colors and
a lot of people are just buying our baths and
then designing the bathroom around our bar. So a free
standing bath these days are extremely popular in Australia.
Speaker 4 (07:49):
And so do you make them? Where do you get
them from? And how are they made?
Speaker 8 (07:54):
Okay, So our bass come out of Indonesia. We own
a factory over there, so we've been reducing for about
the last ten years. And yeah, they come out out
of Indonesia, Central Java, Indonesia and we export them back
to Australia and globally as well.
Speaker 2 (08:09):
Wow. Yeah, that's so interesting.
Speaker 5 (08:11):
And Brad, is there sort of one recurring question that
you're often asked about free standing bathtubs?
Speaker 8 (08:18):
Yes, so, usually with free standing bathtubs, particularly stone free
standing bath tubs, it's the size and the weight, and
some people are concerned about access and how they're going
to get them into their bathroom. So we do guide
them through the whole process. We try to help with
the design and something that's going to fit their bathroom
(08:40):
and also something that's going to fit into their bathroom.
So sometimes that access can be a problem and we
guide them through that.
Speaker 2 (08:47):
Just on that how do they get them in?
Speaker 3 (08:49):
Because some of the houses that I get to go
into to record videos in real estate videos, it feels
as though the bathroom has been built around the bathtub.
Speaker 8 (09:00):
That's right, that's right. A lot of the time they
are installed before the bathroom has been all is complete.
A lot of times they're craned up as well when
they're going house or something like that. But most of
the time it's manpower and up the stairs.
Speaker 2 (09:18):
Wow, yeah, just the old school way.
Speaker 5 (09:20):
Can and Brad, what's the trickiest place you've had to
get one of your bigger bath tubs.
Speaker 2 (09:26):
Into a case?
Speaker 8 (09:29):
So probably the trickiest place would probably have been in
an old heritage building in Sydney. It was a penthouse installed.
We didn't have crane access on that one, so it
went up the stairs or special rigging made up to
get it up. They used a couple of big guys
turned the bathroom up. So I can carry it up
(09:50):
about half a day, but once it was installed it
was all worth the whole work.
Speaker 4 (09:54):
Wow. And just before we finish up with you, Pietro Bianka.
Speaker 3 (09:59):
That is a really cool name and there's an awesome
story behind that name of the business as well.
Speaker 8 (10:04):
Ah okay, well, petro Bianca means white stone in Italian.
Speaker 2 (10:09):
So gotcha.
Speaker 8 (10:10):
We wet with that name. We thought it would match
our products because we are stone bar manufacturer and we
do make white bar, white stone bar.
Speaker 2 (10:21):
Nice. I love that, all right, Brad, Well, this is
so interesting.
Speaker 5 (10:24):
I feel like we could all for much longer about this,
but we do have to leave it there.
Speaker 2 (10:28):
But thank you so much for sharing that with us.
Very cool. You're welcome, Thank you very much.
Speaker 5 (10:33):
That's Brad olroyd, our director at Pietro Bianca. You can
look at their website I did just before, pietro Bianca
dot com dot are you The bars are very very
cool one hundred percent.
Speaker 4 (10:41):
And of course I asked that question about the name.
Speaker 3 (10:43):
All of our Italian listeners, they would have already known that.
Speaker 2 (10:46):
Of course they would have known that you and I
we've got to ask the question.
Speaker 3 (10:50):
But I mean, yeah, speaking of Brad, there that's a
great conversation. And they, like you say on the website,
they look super special, don't they.
Speaker 5 (10:58):
And they've got ones that look identical to the sink
like on the bait. Yes, it's amazing what they do well.
Speaker 7 (11:03):
Cam.
Speaker 2 (11:04):
The next topic we're.
Speaker 5 (11:05):
Going to discuss is something we've both wanted to explore
for a while. Some stoked we're here today, the history
of the Canberra Red Brick. Now, my partner Jim in particular,
loves watching Grand Designs and I'll watch it with him
sometimes and we watched one a while ago a property
that was built out at Sutton and they'd incorporated the
(11:25):
iconic Canberra red brick.
Speaker 2 (11:27):
And you saw it recently.
Speaker 3 (11:29):
Too, absolutely, And I go into all sorts of different
homes and properties shooting the Zango videos that we do,
and on especially not just in a sort of Ainsley
style houses that have been redone houses everywhere. In fact,
I went to one in Fod a couple of weeks
ago and as you walked in on the right hand side,
it had a two story feature wall that was built
(11:52):
from Cambra reds they call them if you like, yes,
and some of the areas had been turned out so
you could see the brick and the Canbra stef MP
on it and it was just such a special feature
and I thought we need to do some investigator. It's
taken a couple of weeks to find the right person
to talk about the camber reds, but we've done that
right now.
Speaker 5 (12:10):
Yes. David Hobbs a retired architect, heritage consultant and member
of the Act Heritage Council.
Speaker 2 (12:17):
Hi, David, Hi, Now.
Speaker 5 (12:19):
Look, can you give us a brief history of the
Canberra red brick Yeah?
Speaker 7 (12:23):
Sure, The canber red bricks were produced for sixty years
at the ar Alumla Brickworks. It's become iconic in its
own right down there at Yarralumla with the tall red
brick chimneys built themselves of Canberra red bricks. Of course. Yes,
the brickworks is one of the original infrastructure projects to
build the new city of Canberra. So you had the Brickworks,
(12:45):
you had the Kingston Powerhouse, you had the Cotta Dam,
and it was set up to build to make the
bricks that were going to build the young city.
Speaker 3 (12:52):
Okay, and so back in the day they would have
just been bricks, wouldn't they. But now there's something more
to it, isn't there.
Speaker 7 (12:59):
That's right, have just been bricks, And in fact, many
people may not know that the Canberra the classic camber
read is the brick that built all of the original
buildings of Canberra, including Old Parliament House, the West Brock,
Sydney and Melbourne buildings. But of course a brick was
a brick, and it was considered to be pretty utilitarian,
and for the most part it was covered up with
(13:19):
red and door or stucco or paint.
Speaker 3 (13:22):
And so you're saying, let's say, Old Parliament House in
behind all that white paint and render and everything is
a million red Canber red bricks.
Speaker 7 (13:30):
Well it's documented four million.
Speaker 4 (13:32):
Wow, there you go.
Speaker 5 (13:34):
And so you said, in a lot of those buildings
that you mentioned, it's covered up with paint and now
but people now are wanting to get these bricks into
their homes and have them on full display, celebrate.
Speaker 7 (13:45):
Them, absolutely right. And I think that's partly because we
don't have a big history of sort of industrial production
in Canberra. We're not known as a place that makes anything,
and the red brick is one of the rare things
that we do have to call our own.
Speaker 3 (14:01):
And so for you as a sort of former architect
as well. It must be kind of cool to have
this sort of product that has the history attached to
it now becoming something that people are looking to include
into structures.
Speaker 7 (14:14):
Absolutely, and they're quite sought after. They're getting more and
more pricey to get hold of because of course they
ceased being produced in the mid seventies.
Speaker 4 (14:23):
And so can you still get them.
Speaker 7 (14:25):
You can't buy them like presh off the press. You
can only get the most salvage reclaimed bricks from demos.
Speaker 5 (14:32):
Okay, So a previous building, if it's getting torn down
or whatever, if you're lucky enough to be able to
get some from that, that's how it happens.
Speaker 7 (14:39):
That's how it happens. And I mean the heyday. I
mentioned the early years of the old iconic original Canberra
buildings with the red brick, But then the real heyday
came in the fifties and sixties when the classic Govies
were built, mostly in the Inner North and the Enner South.
And what's happening these days is a lot of those
areas are being redeveloped with knockdown rebuild so that's where
(15:01):
the bricks are becoming available. But there's a bit of
an effort in demolishing the house carefully so that you
don't damage the bricks, and then removing render or chips
or anything and cleaning the bricks up so that they're
ready for resale.
Speaker 4 (15:14):
And that's why they're not cheap per brick.
Speaker 7 (15:17):
They are not cheap per brick. They're about if you
think of your typical sort of house brick that you
build a normal house with, the Canberra reds are about
twice the price.
Speaker 3 (15:26):
Yeah, got you, but that's fair enough, like with everything
that you have to do to requaim it.
Speaker 7 (15:31):
Now, that's right, And that's why you see, I mean
you rarely, you would rarely see someone build an entire
house of Canberra red as they used to be. People
are using them, as you mentioned, as features a limited number.
Often they love the sort of because they demonstrate the
history of Canberra too. Your red bricks have probably got
(15:51):
the odd chip on it, a bit of an old
paint color from somewhere that it used to be, little
imperfections and things, and of course you mentioned the old
Cambra common Wealth stamp.
Speaker 2 (16:01):
Yes, that's what makes it special though, wasn't it.
Speaker 5 (16:03):
And what a talking point in a home if you're
lucky enough to be able to get your hands on some.
Speaker 2 (16:07):
All right, David, Well, yeah, that was super interesting. Thanks
for sharing that with us.
Speaker 7 (16:11):
That's all right, no problem.
Speaker 5 (16:12):
That's our David Hobbs, who's a retired architect, heritage consultant
and member of the ACT Heritage Council.
Speaker 2 (16:17):
How cool is that?
Speaker 3 (16:19):
Well, those are the interviews we most enjoyed in last
week's Mix one o six point three real Estate Show.
If you love hearing about the latest trends, or you're
just up for a sticky beak, be sure to drop
by for a listen this Saturday between nine and ten
Jam and
Speaker 1 (16:32):
Rene's Real Estate Show on Mix one oh six point
three
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