The coastal peninsula of the Upper Northern Beaches lends itself to impressive architect-designed properties, so it’s no wonder Avalon and Palm Beach is home to a number of world-class architects.
With so many homeowners renovating and re-building in the area I thought it would be interesting to chat with three local architects about local projects they have been working on. Here are three questions, with three local architects, plus a comprehensive list of architects in the area.
Michael Kilkeary of Cadence & Co.
Do you have a favourite project in the area?
Yes, recently we had two projects ‘Northern Aspect’ and ‘The Gallery’ which sit side by side at Palm Beach on the prime location of Ocean Road. Both were fantastic to work on, the aspect there is amazing, looking directly up the beach and facing straight north. They were both great opportunities to have some fun.
They are big houses in the area so we spent a lot of time thinking through the materials, the palette and the landscaping as we wanted to settle them into the landscape. We used a lot of stone, natural cedars and timbers – the idea being that they would respond and age well with the weather exposure in that location. We also put a lot of effort into substantial landscaping to soften the buildings.
Style-wise, the two houses are quite different. We wanted them both to have their own identity and were also responding to each client. ‘Northern Aspect’ has textured elements and a more weathered beach palette. For ‘The Gallery’ we pulled back on the weathered element, it’s a little more render bare.
Who is your typical client?
We have a broad range of clients and projects. We design and build new houses, but we also work with smaller-scale houses, rooftop additions and alterations. We have a few projects in Palm Beach at the moment ranging in scale including a fun alteration to a Spanish deco house up on the ridge looking both ways to Whale Beach and Palm Beach. We look at each project individually, consider what the client is after, what the various elements are and then bring something unique to the project.
If someone is reading this article looking for an architect why should they call you?
What Cadence & Co. have to offer is a holistic process, from design to construction. We differ from traditional design and construct models in that our design is a bespoke personalised offering. We have the benefit of having the design and construction teams working alongside each other so we’re able to give clients a start to finish process in terms of working with the design team through approval’s and then continuing with Cadence & Co. through the build. We have an interior design team in-house to work with the interior space, quality of space as well as the architecture. We also have a cost estimating team in-house so we can give cost guidance to clients so that when they’ve got their approval and are ready to build they have a product that they are comfortable with budget-wise.
A very key part of our model is keeping the client and the whole process in line with the budget which is really important for seeing a project through to completion.