Granny Flat Design
Buildana Riva
60m² · 2 bed · 1 bath · indicative $226,000 from
All floor plans and room sizes are fully customisable.
About this design
Not every secondary dwelling needs to be complicated. The Riva is 60m² — 2 bedrooms, living space, porch, bathroom and separate laundry — and it fits on most standard lots without drama. Good bones, solid layout.
Riva takes its name from something settled and flowing—a riverbank where things find their natural place. That's the design philosophy here. 60m², two bedrooms, built so the space doesn't feel cramped. The flow matters. You move through it, and it makes sense. This matters because granny flats can feel claustrophobic if they're not thought through.
Riva is thought through. The layout has rhythm. You're not stumbling into dead space or awkward transitions. For a secondary dwelling, that's not luxury. That's just building it properly. And that's what Buildana does.
Room dimensions
What's included as standard
Standard inclusions on the Riva cover bathroom, kitchen, bedroom and living. The spec is solid — proper materials, not builder's grade dressed up as premium. Everything listed is included in the base build.
Bathroom Inclusions
- •Floor to ceiling wall tiles, including 300 x 600 ceramic tile options.
- •Stylus Banksia back to wall dual flush wc.
- •750mm polyurethane vanity with stone top, drop-in sink & mirror over.
- •Look vanity and shower mixers.
- •Look towel rail & toilet roll holder.
- •Framed shower screen.
- •Light, fan and heater combination.
Kitchen Inclusions
- •Sprayed polyurethane doors and panels (any colour of your choice).
- •10m cabinets includes upper, lower & overhead fridge cabinets & pantry.
- •600mm full length pantry with microwave space.
- •Laminate benchtop, tiled splashback – includes 300 x 600 options.
- •Westinghouse oven and ceramic cooktop (gas cooktops where available).
- •Ducted slide out rangehood (Euromaid), Clark 1 3/4 bowl with ‘look’ mixer.
Upgrade options
Tick what you want — your indicative total updates live. Final fixed price comes back in your formal proposal after a site assessment.
Exterior finish system
Choose the wall system for the external envelope. Pricing below is calculated against this design's external wall area — approximately 75m² (perimeter 32.7m × 2.7m wall height, less 15% for openings). Standard polystyrene-render is included; Hebel, face brick and brick-render are priced as upgrades over standard.
Foamboard polystyrene cladding system finished with cement render and texture coat. Included in the base price — light, fast to install, and the standard exterior on every Buildana granny flat.
Ceiling height
Standard ceiling height is 2.4m. Higher ceilings make small footprints feel larger and lift natural light through windows. Pricing below is calculated against this design's external perimeter 32.7m, covering the extra wall framing, plasterboard, render/cladding and cornice/painting needed to raise the envelope.
Standard ceiling height across all Buildana granny flats — already 100mm taller than the BCA minimum for habitable rooms. Included in the base price.
Doors & highlight windows
Door height and highlight-window upgrades. Tall doors are typically chosen alongside the 2.7m or 3.0m ceiling upgrade so the proportions stay right.
Slim 300 x 600mm highlight windows for natural light to bathrooms, ensuites, hallways, walk-in robes or above kitchen benches. Frosted or clear glazing. $1,100 each, supplied and installed. Pick how many you'd like below.
Premium fitout
Lift the standard spec to higher-end finishes.
Air conditioning
Choose how the granny flat is cooled. The standard living split is included in your base price.
Included as standard. Wall-mount inverter split unit to the living area, sized to the room load.
Outdoor & site
Pricing varies with site conditions, falls, and existing services. Final figures confirmed in writing after a site visit.
Compliance, services & metering
Almost always required for tenanted secondary dwellings. Pre-ticked by default.
Add-on rooms & layout changes
Layout extensions are quoted from your block survey — they may need a fresh CDC/DA pathway.
Common questions
What does Riva's flow actually solve?
Most 60m² designs end up with one awkward transition — usually the bathroom door opening into the kitchen, or the laundry door into a corridor. Riva moves the laundry to share a wall with the bathroom and rotates the bathroom door 90° so neither problem happens. You read it on the floor plan as a small change. You feel it every day you live there.
What's actually included in the Riva base price?
The base price covers the dwelling itself — slab, frame, roof, exterior cladding, full internal fitout, all standard inclusions listed on this page, plus our fixed builder margin and warranty. What's not in it: site costs (excavation, retaining, rock removal), council/CDC fees, separate metering, BASIX upgrades beyond the minimum, and any structural alterations to the existing main dwelling. Site costs get quoted off a real assessment, not a postcode generic.
What construction system does Buildana use for the Riva?
Concrete slab on ground, timber wall framing to AS 1684, metal-deck roof on engineered trusses. Exterior cladding is your choice from poly-clad weatherboard, Hebel power-panel, face brick or rendered finish. The build system is identical to the larger homes Buildana puts up — same trades, same standards, same warranty. Granny flats aren't a separate, lower-grade product line for us.
Will the Riva fit on my block?
Under SEPP (Housing) 2021 you can build a secondary dwelling up to 60m² on residential lots of 450m² or more in NSW, with required setbacks (typically 3m rear, 0.9m sides). The Riva's built footprint sits inside that envelope. We do a free block check off your title plan before you commit — it tells us in writing whether the Riva fits and which approval pathway (CDC or DA) applies.
Request a formal proposal for the Riva
Pick your upgrades, send through your details, and we'll come back with a fixed-price proposal — usually within 3 business days.