palaestra

Charles Wright of Palaestra Studio produced a comprehensive design, which retained elements of the original house for economy. The best thing is the new parts make the home cool in summer and warm in winter with views of the large surrounding garden and the farmland beyond. The new central hearth and recycled rosewood doors are a beautiful feature. The sunny outdoor terrace is great for entertaining. The bathroom and hallway were remodelled to be wheel chair friendly in case of future need. As to be expected there were some construction challenges along the way but a very good relationship developed between the builder, Jeff Hughes and Charles. Jeff felt that Charles understood the difficulties he was encountering and was responsive in answering questions in a timely and practical way. Although Charles was 500km away, electronic transmission of photos and sketches allowed problems to be resolved quickly and efficiently. In my view it is very important for your architect and builder to get on well. My new house is very liveable with bonuses in that its living area has excellent acoustics for small in-house concerts and is much admired. The architect of my former, much loved home, has declared it to be a “master piece”. Maybe that is a slight overstatement for a renovation, but I still love my new home.

Charles delivered the spaces we really needed. We love our 50’s modernist home but it lacked connection to the garden. Charles’ thoughtful & simple moves added the outdoor spaces, a little extra living space & access to sun we really needed. We came in on budget yet still have a few great features that really lift the spaces from ordinary to excellent. It was great work, and we got back our view! We recommend Palaestra to any of our family and friends who are considering a building project. We are also getting Charles back for stage 2, and that is the highest praise we can give!

Charles is an excellent designer to work with. We are delighted with the renovation he designed for our holiday house on the coast. Great use of light and space. Creative response to our brief, which was to transform a tiny house suitable for tiny kids into a shared space for adult kids and their partners. We had absolute confidence in Charles, and he delivered quality output.

I would have to say your professionalism in how you have approached our job has been, for me, one of the best professional experiences I have encountered – especially the blend of pragmatic and creative energy you have brought, and being patiently consistent with the original brief of having us as clients heavily involved in the design process. It has proved laborious – but I think ultimately constructive – in finding solutions around the competing factors – council zoning, preserving the existing structure where possible on enviro/cost grounds, aesthetics – both between Sharnie and I and yourself, working respectfully with the surrounding garden, working through various functional permutations. For me, it has shown clearly how the elements within such a project all inter-relate.

We would like to to enlarge and re-configure our living area at the back of our bungalow. Palaestra has prepared some sketches for us, which we are keen to get built when we can! I have seen a lot of renovations that re-configure the back area of these 100 year old houses - where closed-in backs of houses are opened up. But I find that the vast box-like spaces that are usually created are pretty uninspiring. The reason I would only ask Palaestra to re-design our back-room living spaces is because each of the three Palaestra-designed-houses that I have visited manage to accommodate a number of living spaces that are vastly more interesting, useful, cosy and just beautiful than the boxy ones that are the norm. Spaces in Palaestra houses have our activities in mind - they respond to what we do in those spaces. And they seek light and air to our advantage. Each space has it's own character and it's own special delight.

In June 2004 Charlie Wright (architect) and myself, Ben Taylor (carpenter) worked together to redefine and extend an existing timber cottage on the edge of the Hawkesbury River, north of Sydney. From the start it was an engaging and rewarding experience. Charlie's sensitivity and understanding of landscape were evoked through his thoughtful use of recycled materials that included beautiful ancient iron bark columns and lovely old refinished window frames. Window apertures were placed sensitively to frame views of the secret life of the river. A wonderful gift of Charlie's was the ability to bring the 'dimension' of the river to the spaces constructed within. High ceilings and expansive rooms reproduced the scale of the landscape and gave an open quality to the spaces. Throughout the construction process every care was taken to minimise waste and increase efficiency in production and use of materials. It was a pleasure and great fun to work with Charlie and I would highly recommend him to anyone considering him for their design.

Charles designed the home we never knew we could have - it was better than we imagined in every way, and a year after completion continues to delight us with its efficiency, beauty and cleverness. Our very tight budget provided challenges that he more than rose to, and we have a beautiful and sustainable home to show for it. He was fabulous to deal with, accommodating and helpful. Highly recommended!

We bought a total dump of a terrace which had serious structural and aesthetic issues. We hired Palaestra to help us reconfigure the building to make the most of the spaces, increase the light while keeping the cost low. Palaestra solved the puzzle of using the space as well as possible. We have a truly brilliant new stair configuration. They designed really great rooms and had real sensitivity to our rather serious budget constraints. Unlike a number of the people we hired on the job, Palaestra really got that we couldn't afford the best or most beautiful finishes but always come up with a good looking alternative. Palaestra always deliveredon time and responded to crises.