Busy times
Interest in our unique, integrated, architecture and science services has been steadily increasing, and we are very busy. We have grown to become a dedicated and collaborative team of 14, but unfortunately, despite our enthusiasm, there are limits to what we can do, especially if we intend to maintain the quality of the services that we pride ourselves in delivering.
For this reason, we’re temporarily closing the books: we are not taking new architectural clients until the second half of the year. We simply don’t have the capacity to respond to enquiries for our integrated architecture and science services until then.
We have also decided we will be limiting our work to clients based in the ACT.
We are still taking clients for our science testing and retrofit advisory services.
We will announce when our ‘books are open’ to new architectural clients here (at our website journal) and on our Facebook and Instagram accounts.
In the meantime, there are plenty of online resources for you to learn about sustainable housing in Australia. The journal and projects pages on our website are a great place to start.
Other places where you can find information include: the facebook group My Efficient Electric Home; Renew; Sanctuary; Sustainable House Day; Your Home, CSIRO and Undercover Architect. We contribute to all of these terrific resources and we too find them a great source of inspiration. Time spent researching and planning is never wasted.
The public’s enthusiasm for quality, comfortable, energy efficient homes has also forced us to more clearly outline the sorts of projects we love. If your future project fits one of these descriptions below AND is in the ACT we will be keen to hear from you later in the year. If energy efficiency and space efficiency are not high on your agenda… then we may not be the right match for you.
Significant reno/retrofits that work within the existing footprint of a home
Do you really need to extend?
See examples like these — Fabode, Bamford, Vasey — and understand that in Canberra these projects still require construction budgets of $300k+ (its not cheap but its a lot more affordable than a new home).
These projects require a full architectural process and are quite different to our science-only services.
New builds* that are genuinely space-efficient and prioritise landscape design and connection to outdoors over a bigger footprint
Do you want a productive garden that provides summer shade… or three living areas?
Our 3 bedroom + multi-room family homes are typically 150 - 170 square metres (excluding carports and outdoor areas) and have construction contract prices in the $500 - $650k range.
If you think you must have a 200+m2 home we may not be the firm for you. We’re actually working on some fabulous family homes that are even smaller.
None of our team live in big houses. Check out director Jenny’s multi-award winning 150 sqm home here.
(*on vacant land or blocks where the existing house really doesn’t have potential - we’re very good at helping people judge that.)
Flexible designs
Could your new or existing family home function as two residences? Can you age-in-place? Can you share resources with others? Are you interested in clever higher density living?
Check out this webinar for examples.
We are not developers but we are keen to partner with people who want to do clever co-housing.