Windiate Architects

Windiate Architects successfully led us through the process to maximise the potential of our block. After briefly exploring renovation options for our compromised old Cal Bungalow we embarked on a new build with Gary and his team. Together we created a beautiful, fantastic family home that we love and are still very proud of many years later. Gary helped us: capture a north facing garden outlook which fills the house with winter warmth and light; maximise views of Port Phillip Bay; choose appropriate and beautiful materials of construction for the coastal environment; cleverly increase utilisation of the block and car access with adjacent laneway; mitigate noise impact from the railway across the street; deliver the project on budget and time! The natural silvered timber cladding looks better than ever!

We've worked with Gary on 4 projects as the builder, and its always been a smooth and productive experience. He's a clear communicator, well-organised, and easy to work with. His plans well thought out, and the jobs we've completed together have all turned out really well. Looking forward to many more successful projects with him in the future. Sam - Pitch Building Group

Gary has provided invaluable advice and support in design and project decisions. He is a great communicator who has offered practical suggestions on a range of issues.

We can't speak highly enough of Windiate Architects who we engaged to renovate and extend our home. We started working with Windiate Architects on our project in approx. Feb 2023. Construction was complete and we moved back into our home in Nov 2024. Gary completely transformed our very tired and dark 1970s home to a modern, light filled and comfortable space we love to spend time in. Gary designed our home renovation, performed contract administration during the build and is looking after the Defects Liability Period as well. We always found Gary be very generous with his time during the entire project. He was always available whenever we need to chat or some extra advice. We had never worked with an architect before but thoroughly enjoyed the experience working with Gary and he made the process as easy for us as possible. During the design phase, he arranged to meet us at tile shops, appliance stores, and other suppliers to guide us through these choices. We were also referred to lighting design consultants that delivered amazing results for the look and feel of our new spaces. Throughout the design and construction phases Gary never stopped offering ideas. Gary's design input added significant value and resulted in a home we never thought was possible within our budget. From structural design choices early on in the design to smaller decisions during construction about tile placement, flooring material, timber highlights to create a natural and calming feel and colour choice. Windiate Architects always focused on delivering the highest value-add for our budget. Gary is also very practical and delivered an extremely functional home renovation and extension, which was a first priority with a growing family, that is also beautifully designed. Since moving in, we've also noticed the impact of Gary's sustainability in design choices. Our home maintains a relatively constant temperature despite the dramatic swings in temperature we have in Melbourne. This has had a noticeable impact on comfort and significantly reduced our reliance on heating and cooling which makes a big different to how it feels living in the space. As we transition through the seasons, we're also noticing the benefit of well-designed windows and shade. During summer, the sun didn't come inside during the middle of the day, but as we enter autumn the sun is entering our north-facing living room providing warmth on cooler days. It also provides a lovely feel inside the space. Gary made the process to appoint a builder seamless as well. He reached out to six builders to get high-level costings approx. 80% through the design phase. We met with several builders and chose one to go with. Gary then finalised scope of works and price in consultation with us and our preferred builder. The builder was also great! There were basically zero unexpected variations during our build. I can only recall one soil testing variation from the engineer that cost $300.

Gary provided exceptional architectural and project management services for our full house renovation in Northcote. From the time of our first meeting, Gary really listened to our needs, worked within our budget and presented us with options when we weren’t sure what we wanted. Gary was very responsive and always stayed focused on making the space work for us. He had a great network of suppliers to recommend and the end result is a house we love living in. We would not hesitate to recommend Gary to others looking for an experienced architect to work with.

We can’t recommend Windiate Architects highly enough. They guided us through an expansive renovation of our old home, making what could have been an overwhelming process feel seamless and well-managed. Their expertise, clear communication, and thoughtful approach helped us make informed decisions every step of the way. The team respected the character of our home while introducing creative and practical solutions that enhanced both its functionality and beauty. The final result is everything we hoped for—a stunning, comfortable family home where we can create memories for years to come. A huge thank you to Gary and his team for helping us bring our vision to life!

Having Gary and team do our design and assist throughout the extensive extension / renovation project made such a difference! So beautiful and clever is the design also allowing for warm natural light in winter and perfect positioning for summer! Thanks guys, I wouldn’t hesitate having you guys there for the next project!

When I started on my journey to restore our family home that has so much sentimental value and fond memories of my parents and family, I wanted an architect that could see that this project was not just “another job”. Gary stood out from the outset. His compassion, understanding and complete ownership of the outcome was way beyond my wildest expectation. Throughout the process Gary took us on the journey of reinvigorating our families dream of restoring a beautiful old Victorian family house in the inner-city suburbs of Melbourne. Both Gary and my family could collaborate on what was needed during the design and building phase, how to deal with all the authorities, the legislative requirements we needed to adhere too, in particular, given this project had a heritage overlay and most importantly working with the builder and the trades that shared our vision of the restoration/renovation. Gary made the process very seamless guiding us every step of project. He kept us informed throughout the process and provided excellent advice on the aesthetics of new place and the fit out. It was great to work with such a professional and approachable firm. If you are looking for an architect that cares, then I would not hesitate in recommending Gary and his team.

There were many challenges in the brief we gave to Gary. We wanted a contemporary house in a heritage area. We also wanted a house that would be easily accessible for older and disabled persons. The land is narrow and slopes to the rear. Gary worked collaboratively with us on the design; he listened and constructively resolved the many issues that confronted us. The Council provided very few guidelines in relation to these requirements, but Gary was able to work through the impediments and obtain the approvals. We wanted a modern house that would stand as an equal to the historic 1880’s terraces around us. The appearance of the house needed to be in proportion with the adjacent double story victorian terrace. This was achieved through clever and nuanced design elements that elongated the façade, and was then absorbed into the rest of the house through interesting ceiling and room configurations. The hallways and rooms needed to accommodate possible future wheelchairs. So, all spaces are sufficiently wide and internal steps have been replaced with ramps. The use of internal gardens, both downstairs and upstairs, plus the liberal inclusion of skylights provide wonderful light and ventilation. An important feature is a large basement that has the laundry, a great deal of storage and work area, and all of the services such as hydronic heating, hot water, pumps, solar inverters and future batteries and the lift that moves through each of the three levels. Gary has achieved an outcome with which we are extremely pleased and he can feel justifiable proud of.

Gary provided outstanding support and guidance to our family for our renovation. His knowledge across all aspects of the build, excellent relationship with the builders, and ability to both understand our needs whilst offering options, suggestions and ideas along the way has been invaluable. Gary and his team are highly attentive to detail and follow up, have great relationships with suppliers and industry professionals, but also understand the needs of the people actually living in the house and helped us design a home we are thrilled to live in. All through a pandemic too!

Gary was referred to us by some friends who had a very positive experience with their rebuild. We've had the same experience. We had a very constrained site and some big challenges to surpass in delivering our desired space in a fairly major redesign project. Gary has an innate understanding of functional design and was able to help us plan a house which we expect will meet our needs well into the future. He's also very easy to deal with and has a good manner in resolving problems. We're 3 months into our build now and things are going well - we're very happy to have selected Gary.

Before engaging Windiate Architects we carried out an extensive search of architects whose work appealed to us, and eventually narrowed the list down to three potential candidates. We then “Interviewed” each architect to decide which one we would engage. The deciding two factors that made us opt for Gary was that we liked what we saw in his resume, and importantly to us, we felt we could best work with Gary on an ongoing basis. Simply put, there was an easy relationship between us that made us feel that the process of designing our home would be a pleasant experience with Gary. During initial meetings Gary listened to what we hoped to achieve in building our home; plenty of natural light, three bedrooms including master bedroom and ensuite, study, bathroom, and kitchen/living/dining-room – all in an inner city suburb with a heritage overlay. Once we had put forward our hopes and ideas Gary went to work conceptualizing how our requirements might be met. While Gary took notice of what we asked for, he expanded on our ideas and brought his own flair and style to the project. If we weren’t all that keen on any of his ideas he listened to our concerns and either modified his plans, or explained why our alternative ideas would cause issues. His patience seemed endless. We sometimes wondered how Gary could be across almost every detail of our build, despite being involved in his other projects. But I guess that’s what professionals in any business do, it’s what clients have a right to expect, and Gary delivers in abundance. Gary has transformed our house from an impractical, dark, cold, Victorian terrace to a warm, contemporary, modern home. The functionality of the house is fantastic, there is an astounding amount of storage for example, but more than just practicality, we have a light filled, tastefully renovated house that has been thoughtfully designed in an aesthetically pleasing manner. Our neighbour came in for a look, the word she used over and over was “Wow.” Thank you Gary for all your efforts, we are immensely proud of our new home and would highly recommend you to any potential clients.

Remarkable Architect. Our property in Yarraville is surrounded by beautiful homes with dodgy renovations. We wanted to do something special that nobody else is doing. Many are using cheep draftsman but the one thing that stands out with many homes in Yarraville above all is poor functional design as a result of saving on design. Gary thinks differently. Our amazing home extension seamlessly merges a 106-yo house with a highly efficient modern backbone. The design is smart and aesthetically outstanding due to Gary's ability to work with our idea's and design a timeless masterpiece. Gary is worth every cent and the impact he makes will save you much more in the long run.

After speaking to a number of architects it was a difficult decision and we ultimately selected the person we felt the most comfortable with in entrusting him with designing our family home in St Kilda West. We wanted someone to translate our lifestyle needs & aspirations and to also challenge us as appropriate. We couldn't have made a better decision as Gary was instrumental in coming up with extremely visually effective, practical and cost effective designs which is very rare that I can use these 3 words in the same sentence. Furthermore his knowledge with planning controls in an heritage overlay area made the project efficient and took out the guess work. Gary is capable, creative & pragmatic and is solution driven I wouldn't hesitate to recommend him.

My wife and I engaged Windiate Architects to help us realise our dream of transforming our home for our growing family. With a very tight time line (6 months)we worked well with Gary and enjoyed the ‘to and fro’ with ideas to get to a solution that would work with us. Gary’s approach was to try to retain and work around existing conditions to help minimise cost and imposition as we would need to live in the house while the works were carried out. Gary also understood our needs on what we wanted our home to be. Gary was happy to listen to our ideas as well as offer his own to solve solutions. With Gary’s help we engaged a builder and worked with the builder ourselves to get the project built, making subtle changes along the way. We are very happy with the result and love our home. The changes made are of great benefit to our family and how we live our lives’. We have already recommended Gary and Windiate Architects to other families looking to perfect and realise the true potential of their home. Good luck with your project.

Windiate Architects visited our home, understood our brief, which was to adapt our existing space to get ready for the arrival of our second child, and produced a quality drawing which we then implemented with our builder. Windiate took the time to understand our needs. Our brief was to rearrange the second storey of the house to make four bedrooms into five and improve the configuration of a master walk-in robe. They also recommended materials for joinery and paint colours. We were concerned that the resulting bedrooms might be too small but we are delighted with the result. The master bedroom, for example, has become smaller but is now a much more pleasingly proportioned room. It was very hard to envisage this, but the Windiate team proportioned everything perfectly. With an extra room now leading off our rumpus area, the area has become a much more usable ‘family’ zone. It seems the house is now the way it should always have been. Through the building project, the Windiate team was very responsive as questions came up. For example on paint colours when we decided to paint our son’s room a different colour to our daughter’s. Finally, we also much appreciated that Windiate explained to us the relevant local planning restrictions and obtained for us all the necessary permissions and documentation.

We engaged Gary and his team as part of a complete interior upgrade and extensive renovation to our home. I personally found Gary to be attentive and responsive to all requests. Pleasingly there was never the occasion that we felt certain design elements were forced upon us as some Architects can tend to do. I would have no hesitation in recommending Gary to other prospective clients based on our experience.

We purchased a double fronted inner city terrace with heritage overlay that had been occupied by the same family for 60 years. The house needed significant work to realise its potential. We approached the job with some apprehension due to a previous renovation with a well regarded “premium, high end” design and build firm that was a bad experience. We networked to find a strong personal recommendation from someone we trusted and ended up with Windiate architects. Gary Windiate listened well and encouraged us to consider beyond our initial design ideas, to good effect. Gary helped us negotiate council & maintain perspective during an extended process. The end result? We now have a modern, light and bright, spacious and enjoyable home that still pays respect to its 1890 roots.

It was great to work with Windiate Architects, a smaller independent architectural firm and Gary for my development project. From the initial consultation to concept stage I felt that Gary really understood my vision, project brief and budget to provide me the confidence to engage him with his practical approach and modern yet liveable design style. The finished dual occupancy townhouse development reflected the fit for purpose design elements and values which suited the streetscape, local council compliance requirements and budget considerations whilst also achieving the balance of functionality versus features. I was able to actively work throughout with Gary with mutual feedback throughout the process leading to the final design permit and build stage. Gary helped moved the project forward within budget and met the initial brief with listening to my needs whilst demonstrating his practical flexibility in client engagement as well as provide value for money with his fee structure. I would be happy to recommend Gary.

We met with several architects before choosing Gary Windiate to work with us on the design of a major renovation and extension to our heritage listed inner-Melbourne home. We could not be happier with our choice. Being a builder by trade and my wife with a keen eye for design, we both wanted to be hands-on during both the design and construction phases. Gary was very flexible to accommodate our involvement and structured his service offering and costing proposal to reflect that. He was such a calm yet dynamic force throughout the long process. His understanding of our end goal, fresh ideas and genuine passion for our project was tireless. He is supported by a skilled team and together they successfully managed our timeframes and the vast red tape involved with Council’s town planning and heritage departments. The result is a beautiful heritage home that functions flawlessly as a modern family. We were impressed with how Gary listened to us and was able to visualise the indoor and outdoor spaces we wanted, his ability to hand sketch as he talked and create an end result that we love. We have well-proportioned rooms that are flooded with natural light, visually appealing and comfortable to live in. Gary was able to translate our very specific wish list into a reality. We highly recommend Gary and his team for any residential project, particularly heritage listed homes and complex projects.

We engaged Windiate Architects in both consultation and design services. Gary Windiate and his team were great to work with, professional and prompt in response to questions. Gary's creativity, commitment, passion and desire to fulfill our vision was a joy to behold. We highly recommend Windiate Architects for their residential design and expertise.

We engaged Windiate Architects to design our new family home on a sloping, tree-filled block. Our brief was for a contemporary and environmentally-responsive home in a rural setting that sat comfortably in the landscape. Gary and his team thoroughly understood our requirements and were innovative and practical in their design response, working with us to explore alternative construction methods and materials to find the best solution for our needs. Our design meetings were enjoyable and highly productive and we always felt that Gary and his team were totally committed to our project. They were both professional and prompt in their response to any and all questions and I would have not hesitation in recommending Windiate Architects for their residential design and expertise.

Windiate Architects helped with the design and contract management of our home renovation project. The existing house, a project home, was subject to various body corporate constraints, which meant that it was not possible to extend or substantially alter the exterior of the house. The original house layout had numerous circulation problems, including a garage tacked on a side of the house that had no direct access to the home (requiring a 100 metre walk from the garage to the front door). Windiate Architects worked closely with us to provide practical solutions to the circulation problems. The design solutions meant that the way in which we use the house now is entirely different. There is now no longer any wasted space in our home, the main living areas have been shifted to the north side of the house and is connected to the north facing courtyard as well as through a new exit at the rear of the house to the garage. Windiate Architects provided solutions to practical problems, helped to save money by advising us on the selection of materials, and liaised with the builder throughout the project build. We would recommend Windiate Architects to any home renovators who want a designer who is down-to-earth, easy to access and understands what works for a family home from a practical perspective.

I have have worked on 3 different projects with Gary from windiate architects 2 residential and 1 commercial on all three occasions i found the relationship to be very professional, respectful and inclusive. The extra help and advise give is invaluable from sourcing products to best practise with the final outcome being as good if not better in some case's as expected.

The success of any building project is heavily reliant on the ability of all sub-consultants (within the team) to work effectively and efficiently with the chief project architect. In all my experiences with Windiate Architects, I have found their informative, collaborative and engaging approach refreshing and a key element as to why their projects are completed to the highest levels of architectural and building excellence.

We have just completed a large renovation designed by Windiate architects and had a great experience all the way through. Gary Windiate is very easy to work with. He is honest, hard working, professional and was very patient with us (especially when we kept changing our minds which created more paperwork for him!). We are absolutely delighted with the design of our house which is a result of working together with Gary who listened to what we wanted and kept tweaking the design/layout until it was perfect. Gary and his team were always quick to respond to emails or phone calls and communicated well with our builder, interior designer and surveyor. We would highly recommend Windiate architects if you are considering doing a renovation.

Windiate Architects were engaged to design, provide drawings and documents, tender to builders and then manage the building contract for the renovation of our single front 2 bedroom Victorian property into a 3 bedroom, 2 bathroom property. Gary was very professional, experienced, positive, enthusiastic and had lots of great idea's. The design process was very well done, with some great concepts that reflected what we wanted, but also challenged and provided more than we had or could have considered ourselves. Gary's experiences also enabled us to have confidence in the selection of many items (materials, paints, finishes, fittings) that took a lot of stress out of the renovation process. Thoroughly recommend!