About our company
Established in 2016 by someone who asked a good question
Backyard Pods was founded in 2016 by Melanie Williamson, then a WFH part-time mum-of-two, asking: “Why isn’t it possible to buy a small building in an online shopping cart and put it together like an IKEA bookcase?”
Her search for a solution led to one of Australia’s leading steel fabricators, already tinkering with the how-tos for a similar idea. Working in a spirit of partnership, by 2017 there was the versatile, robust, affordable all-round building solution that is Backyard Pods.
Since things seriously got underway in 2018, we have helped thousands of people with their proposed projects and delivered countless flatpack building kits to customers throughout NSW, VIC, and SE QLD.
Today, we have a separate store for our flatpack building kits but the team at Backyard Pods is always ready to help you with enquiries for backyard studios, granny flats, home offices, home extensions, primary residences, or whatever your backyard building dream.
Our philosophy
The purpose of Backyard Pods is to provide a universal, low-cost building solution for people to get granny flats, home offices, multi-purpose rooms, and other backyard buildings more cheaply and efficiently, yet with high standards of quality. The engineering-certified Backyard Pod building kit is the perfect ‘blank canvas’ for any kind of building – the options for colours, profiles, eaves, verandas, decks, windows, and doors making the basic building incredibly versatile in appearance and functionality. We care for our customers and do all we possibly can to help them achieve a successful backyard building project.
“Use simple materials, follow the sun, listen to the wind, and touch the Earth lightly.”
These are the four principles employed by Glenn Murcutt, the innovative Australian architect who is globally acclaimed for his environmentally-responsive approach to building design and materials in the explicit context of the Australian landscape and locally-available resources. In turn, Glenn Murcutt is inspired by the Bauhaus modernist Mies van der Rohe, who shunned external ornamentation in the discipline of “an innate spirituality in the careful and rigorous design, the meticulous choice of materials, and the precision and economy with which they are combined to form a building”, as much as by the Aboriginal people of Australia and spirituality of place and Nature.
It was with these same general principles in mind that our founder went searching for a flat-packed building solution that would make good design and engineering available and affordable to everyone in a way that would be specific to Australia, and environmentally-responsible at the same time.
Mel Williamson
“It was my dream for everyone to easily enjoy an extra room, music studio, granny flat, or whole house made from practical materials, at an affordable price, with a nice design ethic, great energy efficiency, and plenty of options for customisation.”
“This dream was finally achieved with Backyard Pods. We bring together some of Australia’s most trusted manufacturers and distribution channels with a carefully-engineered range of products, inspired by cost-effective sustainability.”
“By not needing concrete slabs, our Backyard Pods do indeed touch the Earth lightly, but also with great structural integrity due to our unique foundation piers and beautifully-engineered flooring and framing system.”
WHAT WE BELIEVE @ BACKYARD PODS AUSTRALIA
1. Help people always
Everyone has their own ‘pod dream’. Our job is simply to help facilitate it.
2. Make things beautiful.
Beautiful outcomes made easier and more affordable. That’s where we aim to contribute the most.
3. Preserve the planet.
Use local materials, recommend energy-saving solutions, keep exploring new eco-friendly methods and products.
