Can a new delivery model unlock Australia's missing middle?

Part two of a two-part interview with Canberra-based Michael Drage, founder of Uncommon Living.

While Michael Drage’s journey into housing began with a focus on building performance, his latest venture is concerned with something much broader. (main image: Architectural render of a proposed medium-density housing development by Uncommon Living in Marrickville, Sydney.)

The founder of Uncommon Living believes Australia’s housing challenges won’t be solved simply by manufacturing better buildings.

Instead, he argues the industry needs to rethink how projects are conceived, planned and delivered.

“We’re aiming at a new delivery model,” he says.

Speaking with Built Offsite, Drage explains that improving building performance naturally led him to ask a bigger question: if the construction process itself introduces uncertainty, why not rethink the entire delivery model?

Targeting the missing middle
Uncommon Living has been established to focus on medium-density housing, targeting what has become known as Australia’s “missing middle”—housing that sits between detached suburban homes and high-rise apartment towers.

The business combines two complementary skill sets.

Business partner Charles Peters, principal of Craft Architecture, leads the architectural and planning strategy. Having previously worked on Sydney’s Nightingale co-living project in Marrickville, he brings extensive experience in medium-density housing, planning approvals and urban design.

Drage contributes the commercial perspective, combining financial analysis with research into building performance, construction systems and project delivery.

“Charles has an incredible understanding of local context, planning controls and what can realistically be achieved on a site,” says Drage.

“Where I add value is through the financial analysis, the product knowledge and the research.”

Rather than approaching projects as either architects or builders, the pair aim to integrate planning, design and commercial analysis before construction decisions are made.

Not a construction system
Unlike many companies operating within the offsite sector, Uncommon Living is not centred on a proprietary building system or a manufacturing facility.

Instead, the business assembles the most appropriate team, construction methodology and delivery pathway for each individual project.

Where suitable, developments may incorporate prefabricated timber systems supplied through Drage’s separate business, Net Zero Plus, which partners with Polish manufacturer Tadeks. 

Other projects may utilise hybrid structures or alternative construction systems where they better suit the site or planning requirements.

“Our preference is timber,” says Drage.

“But if the site doesn’t allow for that, then we’ll look at how we can do it otherwise.”

The starting point is never the product itself.

Instead, Uncommon Living begins with the planning controls, site constraints, commercial objectives and desired building performance before selecting the most appropriate construction solution.

For Drage, that distinction is fundamental.

“It’s a new delivery model.”

Performance remains the benchmark
Although Passive House principles continue to underpin the company’s thinking, Drage stresses that certification itself is not the objective.

Site orientation, overshadowing, planning constraints and commercial considerations all influence what is achievable.

“We’ll go to Passive House where we can,” he says.

“If we can’t, we can’t. We’ve got to be pragmatic about it.”

Instead, every project begins with the same level of technical analysis.

Blower-door testing, thermal bridge analysis and post-construction verification remain central to the company’s approach because they confirm that completed buildings perform as intended rather than simply meeting theoretical design targets.

For Drage, those verification processes are just as important as the structural system used to build the project.

Reducing development risk
Throughout the interview, one theme consistently emerges.

Whether discussing architecture, planning or prefabrication, Drage continually returns to the importance of reducing uncertainty.

His background in finance still shapes the way he evaluates projects.

Rather than beginning with construction, he starts with commercial viability.

Developers, he argues, ultimately invest in certainty.

“They buy certainty,” he says.

That certainty comes from combining planning expertise, commercial feasibility, design rigour and building performance into a single process rather than treating each discipline independently.

According to Drage, the response from councils, government agencies and builders has been encouraging.

“At a financial level, we’ve done the numbers and the numbers really work,” he says.

Those outcomes, however, rely on integrating Charles Peters’ planning and design expertise with commercial analysis from the earliest stages of a project.

Current discussions remain centred on Sydney, although conversations have also commenced in Melbourne, Adelaide and Brisbane.

Creating a model others can adopt
Despite only recently launching Uncommon Living, Drage already sees the business as more than a property developer.

Over the next five years, he hopes to demonstrate a repeatable approach that other organisations can learn from and adopt.

“We want to open-source this to a degree,” he says.

“We don’t have to own the market. To me, that’s crazy. If we can help the industry lift and show others how to do this, then that’s a massive win.”

Success, he believes, won’t simply be measured by the number of projects delivered.

Instead, it will depend on whether Uncommon Living can demonstrate that integrating planning, design, commercial feasibility and construction into a single delivery model provides a practical pathway for delivering better-performing medium-density housing.

If others ultimately adopt elements of that approach, Drage believes the benefits will extend well beyond the projects his own business delivers.

Find Uncommon Living HERE