It is the first question every client wants to ask and the one the industry answers worst: what will it actually cost? The honest answer is that no two projects price the same, but honest ranges exist, and you deserve them before you begin. These are broad 2026 figures for Sydney, offered as a compass rather than a quote.
Whole homes, per square metre
For a high quality whole home renovation in Sydney, construction costs commonly run from around four to seven thousand dollars per square metre. True luxury work, the level with custom joinery throughout, natural stone, steel framed glazing and resolved detailing, commonly runs from around seven thousand to twelve thousand dollars per square metre and beyond. Prestige new builds follow a similar logic. Multiply by your floor area and you have a first reality check in thirty seconds.
The rooms that carry the budget
A genuinely luxury kitchen, with stone benchtops and custom cabinetry, commonly lands between one hundred and three hundred thousand dollars, with butler's pantries and integrated appliances pushing the top of that range. Full stone bathrooms at the luxury level commonly run from fifty to one hundred and twenty thousand dollars each, driven mostly by stone, tapware and waterproofed joinery. And joinery is the quiet budget line nobody warns you about: wardrobes, studies, media walls and bars are where luxury homes actually live, and quality joinery deserves a real allowance of its
What moves the number
Five things, in roughly this order: structure (moving walls, steel, excavation), site (access and slope), the finishes level (stone and joinery above all), services (new wiring, hydronic heating, home automation), and approvals (heritage and complex DAs carry consultant costs). Notice what is not on the list: floor area alone. A smaller home finished properly routinely costs more than a larger one finished cheaply, and it is always the better home.
Where never to cut
When budgets tighten, cut scope, never quality. The envelope (roofing, windows, waterproofing) protects everything else. Joinery is touched every day. And project management is the discipline that keeps the other trades honest; removing it to save money is how renovations end up costing more. Cut the second powder room before you cut any of these.
How we work with a budget
At our studio the budget conversation happens in the first meeting, not after the design is drawn. We design to the number, document fully so our trusted builders can price the same drawings, and then project manage the build against that price. The result is not that nothing ever changes; it is that you are never surprised. If you want a realistic number for your own home, bring us the address and the ambition, and we will give you the honest version.