Building design & drafting in Frankston.

What's built here

Frankston went from about 12,000 people in 1947 to 82,000 by 1982, and the housing stock is overwhelmingly a product of that — postwar, from the 1950s through the 80s. Early postwar work was often makeshift, built through material shortages. Frankston North was a Housing Commission estate on a former pine plantation, mostly single-storey brick veneer with cement tile roofs from the 1960s and 70s; Karingal came from the Commission and A.V. Jennings in the same era.

The planning context

Frankston is a Metropolitan Activity Centre — a higher order than a Major Activity Centre — and one of only ten pilot centres in the state's Activity Centres Program. The Frankston Metropolitan Activity Centre Structure Plan of September 2024 was implemented through Amendment C160fran, approved in April 2025. It sets preferred heights up to 16 storeys, around 54 metres, in the core, stepping down to 4 storeys closer in (6 on larger lots) and 3 storeys across most of the catchment (4 on larger lots). The area is divided into thirteen precincts, each with its own height and setback controls.

Controls that actually apply in Frankston

• Thirteen precincts — This is the thing to get right. Sixteen storeys and three storeys exist within the same activity centre. Which precinct your site sits in decides the entire feasibility — and it is not intuitive from the street.
• Housing Choice and Transport Zone — Applied to the catchment under the Activity Centres Program, alongside the locally-led structure plan. Two overlapping processes; confirm which applies to your parcel.
• Special Building Overlay — Flood-related. Council directs applicants to Melbourne Water for the applicable flood level, and that level sets your floor heights before anything is drawn.
• Heritage Overlay — Applies to individual places across the municipality, informed by council's heritage review work for the central activities district.

Check what sits over your own title in two minutes, free: search your address on the Victorian Government's planning property report. Send it to us and we can usually tell you whether a permit is likely from one conversation.

What we typically do in Frankston

Knockdown rebuilds and renovations of 1960s–70s brick veneer stock, particularly around Frankston North and Karingal; flood-compliant new builds near waterways; medium and high-density apartment work within the activity centre precincts.

Whatever the type, the documentation is the same discipline: architectural drafting drawn to be built, town planning drawings council can assess first time, and working drawings a builder can price without padding.

Planning controls change — amendments are gazetted regularly. Everything above was accurate at the time of writing, but confirm current controls for your specific address before relying on them.

Talk to us about your Frankston project

Send us the address and the planning property report and we will tell you what applies — before you commit to anything. Get in touch, or see everywhere else we work.