Sustainable Design Services in Blue Mountains Municipality, New South Wales

“Mark worked with us from concept to completion to design our new home. He was very knowledgeable and practical when it came to energy efficiency and sustainability. We found him to be very committed, flexible and easy to partner with. He paid close attention to what we wanted from the house, both now and in the future and we are really happy with the result. Importantly he developed a great relationship with our builder and was able to contribute his ideas and guidance to the building phase. Going with a building designer was a good compromise between the cost of an architect (and potential budget blowout with an architects artistic vision) and an off-the-shelf design.”

“I chose Jamie Brennan because I wanted to build a sustainable off grid home that incorporated strawbale but used other materials as well and I saw that Jamie had done this in many of his other projects. From the first meeting with him I was satisfied that he understood what I wanted. Our first site meeting consisted of walking my acreage, discussing prevailing winds, fire hazards, windbreaks, views, sun positions -a completely holistic approach to siting my house in the landscape to minimise its energy usage. He handled the DA and tendering for a builder with a minimum of fuss, including submitting and explaining documents and engineering plans for techniques that local council had not seen before. Once building commenced Jamie, myself and the builder met weekly on site. Jamie kept minutes of each meeting and checked all invoices from multiple contractors before passing them on to me for payment. He managed the project working closely with the builder and outside contractors while keeping a tight reign on the budget. He was able to make suggestions and guide me (little knowledge of the finer points) regarding finishes. I was happy to leave many decisions entirely to Jamie in the knowlege that whatever he chose would be aesthetically appropriate. I cannot speak highly enough of Jamie. I will miss our weekly meetings where decisions were made often with a bit of a chat and a laugh between Jamie, the builders and me. I would have no hesitation in recommending Jamie or using him again. He has given me my dream home - not only a home that is energy efficient and comfortable in all seasons but a home that is beautiful and even better than I dreamed.”

“Shelter Design was great. Easy to communicate and prompt replies. Good design ideas relevant to the mountains. Thanks for all your help.”