Home Additions Services in Newcastle, New South Wales

“We engaged Mel and Lisa of Zugai Strudwick Architects to design a home for us based on the original beach shack built by my partners father over 60 years ago. 'Topsy' was the name given to our home in the 50's and the two adjoining properties were 'Tipsy' and 'Turvy'. Needless to say there was and is a great amount of history associated with our home and the community in which we live. Zugai Strudwick Architects spent a week with is in our old shack to get a sense of our lifestyle and the way we utilized the home both in the Winter and Summer Months. Mel and Lisa showed a great amount of respect for the history and my partner John's emotional attachment to the original shack. Their plans for us were absolutely perfect. Whilst we were preparing our home for the "renovation" it became evident that the home would have to be completely rebuilt. Our seaside location had taken its toll on our little shack. Now we are all bright shiny and new, warm in Winter and cool in Summer. Its not too precious but we are not falling through the floorboards either! I guess the best compliment to both Mel and Lisa (and of course John and myself) came over the recent holiday period when and old friend who had not seen the house completed knocked at the front door. She walked in and promptly burst into tears. It is very difficult to retain the 'soul' of an old shack like ours is what our friend said. With the guidance of Mel and Lisa we have managed to maintain the soul of our home and more. We are now enjoying our first Summer here in the new, improved shack and its working brilliantly. Can't recommend these ladies highly enough and look forward to them returning sometime soon to enjoy some long awaited sunshine! Thanks ZSA, Leigh and John”

“We hired Lauran with the appreciation that she was an enthusiastic and intelligent designer. Lauran was able to provide us with a number of potential designs to see which we gravitated to the most, and then through a process of refining ideas, we were able to come up with a design that was aesthetically pleasing and functionally common-sense. Something we appreciated was how readily our ideas were considered and trialled on a 3D BIMX model. This allowed us to visualise whether or not certain ideas would work in practice as we "walked" through the design on our computers and smart phones. Overall, Lauran's honest hardworking approach, combined with her knowledge and experience, allowed us to realise what we could build for our family home. Many, many thanks Lauran”

“Hutch did an incredible job. We can highly recommend Ed based on our experience with the design for our home. We had an idea of what we wanted, but the drawings and ideas coming back from other designers just wasn't quite right. The site also presented some challenges given it is on a slope and the best view is to the south. Ed understood immediately what we were looking for and was able to make the changes so we could get the look we wanted. His design captured the vision we had for the house, but also brought in very practical elements like the glass window in the staircase to let in northern light. He also had great attention to the minor details that really give the house its character. The design was also done in stages so we can continue to add to it down the track when money allows. Ed was great to work with, always patient and listening to our ideas and providing terrific feedback and suggestions. The process of getting approval and building through the pandemic was a massive challenge, but working with Ed was probably the best part.”