It seems that I have been doing architecture or being in the architectural industry for eternity. I started at a technical college after high school doing an engineering and construction course; upon my arrival to Australia naturally my qualification wasn’t recognised so I had to do my architectural degree again. Of course I enrolled in the wrong course and after 4 years of that I had to do the right degree this time around which took another 6 years.
People often ask me how did you do it, my answer usually is because I love it, I have been lucky that by accident I stumbled as my marks weren’t high enough to be placed in an electronic degree (being the eighties and before computers ) so they put me in second best which was engineering and construction. It must’ve been fate as I couldn’t imagine be doing anything else. I love what I do because it is a profession were both the art and the science collide and merge, the aesthetics and the practicality intertwined, the visuals and the spaces get created , I am passionate about architecture because it excites the left side and the right side of my brain.
After working for 15 years in Sydney for big firms I decided to relocate to Byron Bay and open my own practice. Byron being a small community, therefore reputation is everything, that’s why I take what I do very seriously, there are lots of money and emotions involved in the creation of architecture and everything has to be perfect. I believe the process of creating a client’s dream home has to be a painless journey and an exciting experience, it is something that many people get to do once in their life time and my goal is to make sure that experience is a pleasant, creative process where the client gets involved and see their dream home take shape .
I often get told we can’t afford an architect, my answer is; you can’t afford not to have an architect, you might think I’m biased but I’m not, after many years in the industry I get to hear many horror stories and see many disasters, what someone spends on architectural fees they automatically save double or triple that amount on site delays, design mistakes etc. etc. , also by hiring an architect one would make that money back on resale, as the project being architecturally designed and marketed that way, also whilst living in the house you are living in beautifully designed and detailed spaces that make most of the light , orientation aspect and so on.
Also the above has been scientifically proven by a research paper done by the CSIRO in 1999, about the correlation of projects cost vs architects fees, the paper states the cost of a project is directly affected by the quality of documentation and design.
Our love of architecture and what we do shows , as last year 2017 we won 4 awards form the institute of architects Australia, Architizer New York , international property awards London, and best house on Houzz world- wide.
Having lived in Byron now for almost 15 years we know the climate , the local geography and typography, council staff and planners, the good builders from the bad ones, hence clients engaging us for their projects, get to capitalise on our experience, contacts and our local knowledge.
The builders, consultants that we work with and recommend are all tried and tested; hence they are as committed and professional as we are.
Thinking of renovating or building a new home why don’t you give us a call to have a chat about your project to see if we can help you, our advice and tips are free, our aim is to inform the client as much as we can so they don’t end up doing mistakes or building in the wrong spot or hiring the wrong person.
