These are Australia's best cubby houses

Cubby houses can conjure some of our most nostalgic childhood memories, whether whether it was a plastic-fantastic prebuilt deal, or your parents were handy with a hammer — wonky doors, half-built roofs and all.

But when the pros take on a simple design project like a children's cubby house, you can expect their concepts will totally smoke any handy dad. This has proved to be true in the 2017 search for Australia’s Best Cubby.

Five inventive cubby houses – imagined by Aussie builders, architects and designers – have been selected as finalists in the search for Australia's best cubby, which is part of the annual Cubby Challenge at this year's Melbourne International Flower and Garden Show in March, 2017. 

The final built projects will be marketed as though they are real properties, before being assessed and awarded by a stellar judging panel, which includes interior designer Fiona Lynch and Lucy Feagins, editor of The Design Files.

Once awarded, real estate agents will auction the cubbies off, with all proceeds donated to initiatives by youth homelessness prevention charity Kids Under Cover, including a scholarship program and the building of relocatable studios intended to accommodate young people identified as being at-risk.

There will also be a kid's choice award for the most popular cubby, decided by kids at the flower show. 

The Cubby House Challenge Village will be open for kids (and adults) to climb all over and explore from Wednesday, March 29 to Sunday, April, 2, 2017, at the Melbourne International Flower & Garden Show. Information and tickets available via the Kids Under Cover website.

Here’s a sneak peek at the finalists' rendered designs which are currently under construction before their big unveiling:

Playce’s cubby house Glowb

FMSA Architecture’s cubby house Kooky Cubby

Grimshaw’s cubby house MySpace

Porter Davis’ cubby house Rapunzel Tower

Probuild’s cubby house Chameleon