Portland – Ensuite Renovation & Custom Bar and BBQ Entertaining Area

At Portland Close in Illawong, Dura Group delivered a two-stage renovation across roughly eight weeks: a complete ensuite renovation, followed by a custom bar and BBQ entertaining area. Nero Mecca Brushed Bronze and Kara Brushed Bronze fixtures set a refined metallic tone throughout the ensuite, paired with an ADP Emmett wall-hung vanity in Prime Oak topped in bespoke Caesarstone, with Caesarstone carried through to the shower’s hob ledge. The second stage introduced AC Stone across the bar and BBQ area’s benchtop, herringbone splashback and BBQ bench, a different stone chosen to extend the same considered material story into the new space. Splitting the work into two four-week stages let each area get its own full attention. Nothing was rushed to fit one combined schedule.

Project Snapshot

The Brief

Two connected pieces of work made up the brief at Portland Close. The first was renovating the existing ensuite into a warm, sophisticated retreat, and the second was a custom bar and BBQ area built for entertaining family and friends. Dura Group carried one deliberate material direction through both stages, brushed bronze fixtures and bespoke stonework, so a bathroom renovation and an entertaining-area build would still read as one home, not two unrelated projects stitched together after the fact.

Splitting the work into two carefully planned stages, roughly four weeks each, gave each space its own full attention: the ensuite finished on its own timeline before the bar and BBQ build ever started. The build carried its own genuine complications too. Plumbing had to be relocated to suit the new layouts, and the cabinetry was custom-made, not bought off the shelf, real scope items rather than a straightforward swap-out job. That staged approach, and the care taken working through those challenges, is what protected the material consistency running through Portland Close from the first stage to the last.

Stage One: The Ensuite Renovation

Nero Mecca Brushed Bronze and Kara Brushed Bronze run through the ensuite renovation at Portland Close, creating a warm, sophisticated retreat. The brushed bronze fixtures introduce a refined metallic finish that plays against the room’s natural tones and textures. An ADP Emmett wall-hung vanity in Prime Oak was customised with a bespoke Caesarstone benchtop, adding a premium finish and a durable, practical surface for everyday use. A freestanding bath anchors the room alongside it, giving the retreat feel somewhere to sit rather than living only in the finishes.

Caesarstone reappears in the shower too, on the Caesarstone hob ledge, a functional step and threshold detail rather than a visible wall feature. The shower walls themselves are tiled. The hob ledge sits low enough that it doesn’t show up in any of the project photography, but it’s a genuine material choice, one that carries the ensuite’s stone finish past the vanity and into the shower itself.

Stage Two: The Bar and BBQ Entertaining Area

Built as a functional extension of the home, the custom bar and BBQ area is Portland Close’s second stage, designed for entertaining family and friends. It isn’t a stand-alone feature tacked onto the property. The space works as part of everyday home life, a dedicated area for hosting instead of improvising in whatever room happens to be free.

Sage green cabinetry sets the tone for the space, paired with an AC Stone benchtop, a herringbone-pattern splashback and a matching AC Stone BBQ bench, a different stone from the ensuite’s Caesarstone, chosen specifically for this space. Dura Group carried the same attention to detail and quality finishes established in the ensuite straight into this second stage, and the work went ahead without needing a DA or CDC application. The result: a dedicated space for entertaining. It matches the same standard set by the ensuite renovation that came before it.

One Material Language Across Two Stages

One material language ties Portland Close together across two different builds, even though the stone itself isn’t identical from room to room. The ensuite’s Caesarstone, on the vanity benchtop and the shower hob ledge, and the bar and BBQ area’s AC Stone, on the benchtop, herringbone splashback and BBQ bench, are two different stone products. Dura Group chose each individually for its space, but paired both with the brushed bronze finish language that repeats from the ensuite into the bar and BBQ area, so the two stages read as one connected project rather than two jobs delivered separately. That’s a deliberate choice, not an oversight. Forcing one slab through a home rarely suits every room, so the brushed bronze finish repeats consistently while the stone is matched to what each space actually needs. Carrying that discipline from stage one into stage two is what makes Portland Close read as one home with a coordinated material plan, not a renovation project sitting next to an unrelated entertaining build.

The Result

Now, Portland Close reads as one finished home built around two connected stages, an ensuite renovation and a custom bar and BBQ entertaining area, rather than two separate projects. From the Caesarstone-topped ADP Emmett vanity and hob ledge in the ensuite to the AC Stone benchtop, splashback and BBQ bench in the entertaining area, Dura Group delivered two well-finished spaces built around how the homeowners actually live, working through real challenges like plumbing relocation and custom joinery along the way. Targeted work like this shows what a staged renovation can do for both how a home functions and how it feels day to day, whether that’s a private ensuite retreat or a dedicated space for entertaining. The brushed bronze and stonework that carry through both stages, matched to what each space needed, not forced into uniformity, are what tie Portland Close together, and they reflect Dura Group’s approach to multi-stage renovation and entertaining-area builds across Illawong and the wider Sutherland Shire.

Materials & Finishes

Portland Close shows what a two-stage renovation can achieve when a considered material plan runs through both builds, delivered as part of Dura Group’s growing collection of completed renovation projects. It sits alongside Bradley, Illawong among Dura Group’s completed projects in the suburb. If you’re planning your own bathroom renovation or a broader home renovation in Illawong or the Sutherland Shire, you’ll see the same attention to material consistency and finish quality in Dura Group’s approach.