Shire builder Rick Simmons has been named Young Master Builder of the Year in the Master Builders NSW 2019 awards.
His company, One Up Building, which he owns with business partner Scott Sommerville also won Best Home in the $2.5 million to $3 million category for a project in Plowman Street, Bondi and Best Attic Conversion for a project at Gordons Bay.
To be eligible to enter the Young Master Builder award, you have to be under 40 at the time of entry. At 39, Rick qualified but unfortunately, Scott wasn't eligible because he is 41.
But Rick said it was definitely a team effort.
"Scott and I have been building together since we were 18 and this award is for both of us," he said.
It was the first time that Rick and Scott had entered the awards.
"It was only after a few architects said to us that we should enter the awards that we decided to try," Rick said.
"It is wonderful that a shire-based company has won," Rick said. "Scott and I are both shire-born and bred," Rick said
"I grew up at Bangor and Scott at Lucas Heights and we met playing soccer together.
"Scott was a carpenter and I decided to take up carpentry and within five years we had a business together," Rick said.
The company now has ten full-time employees.
There are many examples of the company's work throughout the Eastern Suburbs and the in Sutherland Shire.
Their award for Best House $2.5 million to $3 million for the Plowman Street, Bondi project was praised by judges for the detail to every aspect of construction.
"Quality craftsmanship and good construction were placed at the core," the judges said.
Rick said the project featured exposed brickwork and concrete.
"The beauty was in the raw materials of the house and how we put it together," he said. "There was a lot of planning to get it right."
They have also appeared on Grand Designs Australia with a property they built at Clovelly.
"We like doing challenging, left-of-centre kind of jobs," Rick said.
"Whether it is a house hanging off a cliff or something similar, there is always some kind of twist to it.
"For the Grand Designs property, we built half the home in Sydney and the other half in Melbourne which was shipped up and and then joined together."
"We only take a couple of jobs at at time so either Scott or I can always be hands-on for the project," Rick said.
"It works better that way."
