Architectural Design Services in Cairns, Queensland

““Nathan built our home ‘Spice’ on Oak Beach FNQ to a Chris van Dyke design. This was a uniquely challenging build. Virtually every surface, every finish was bespoke and unconventional. Whether it be the aged, recycled ironbark beams and columns from an old warehouse, the adobe hand-rendered walls, the six pairs of heavy Rajasthani temple doors, the vintage brass ships’ lanterns, the recycled Burmese teak floorboards, polished concrete benchtops, hand-laid stone walls – they all presented their unique obstacles. A conventional builder would have baulked at this challenge whereas Nathan relished the prospect of working with natural materials. Unsurprisingly, for such a build, complications did arise from time to time. And this is where Nathan stands apart from most in his field. His attitude to troubleshooting is this: identify the problem, thoroughly research the available options, solve it today and with a minimum of fuss and budget stress. No owner could ask for more than this. And this proved critical to the success of the build for us. We watched this build from afar, back in Sydney. With Nathan we had no need for a project manager – he was that invested in the project. Not a day would pass without constant phone calls and email updates on progress, discussions regarding superior finishes and features, problem-solving etc. This is our fourth building project and we have never experienced this degree of positive interaction with the builder. As the build progressed, it quickly became apparent to us that the quality of the build was exceptional. Yet, we still held concern that our palette of finishes may completely miss the harmonious look we were seeking. Again, we relied on Nathan’s guidance here. In addition to his very apparent building abilities, he has a discerning eye for design and aesthetics. Many decisions were made after consultation with Nathan to alter the course with respect to design and finishes. Regarding the quality of finishes...Spice presents as a home of hand crafted finishes. One might assume that, when working with distressed timbers and stone, a builder could get away with inferior workmanship since the flaws would blend into the rustic look. Nothing could be further from the truth. It takes exceptional care and skill to blend together unconventional building materials with the necessary conventional materials in such a way as to present a home created by skilled artisans from another era. The end result is truly special. It has surpassed all our expectations and dreams and the fact that it has been recognized for the quality of its build by the Master Builders ‘Awards is an added testimony to Nathan and his amazing team. Finally, and on a personal note, it’s worth noting that Nathan is one of those very rare people – someone utterly driven to achieving the very best of outcomes for those around him, including his clients, his crew etc, yet also just a thoroughly decent bloke. In the year we collaborated on this project, and despite some epic challenges, my respect for his sense of integrity and ethics did not waiver once. I would have utterly no hesitation in recommending Nathan to any prospective homebuilder”.”

“Julianne McAlloon has done design work for us over the last 20 years. In that time she has designed 2 homes for us, a multi use commercial /residential building and a museum with offices, reception etc. Julianne has a flare for outstanding designs that are not like what most architects do. We have no hesitation in recommending her to other clients.”

“Our new home was built to a very high standard, on time, in a very professional manner. All staff were helpful and considerate in all aspects of the design, colour selection and construction phase.”

“In March of 2017, we contracted Gracinda of Speedy Gomez Design & Draw to assist us with designing our home in the North East Victorian hill country. At all times, Cinda has been professional and courteous, and displayed great patience when plans were required to be changed. This was our first experience of designing and building a house from scratch, and we truly could not have found a better partner than Cinda. Cinda was instrumental in obtaining the necessary permits and approvals during the design and build phase, constantly negotiated on our behalf for better prices on trades and materials and clearly explained what her role would be at the outset, and then kept us updated regularly during the project with photos, emails and phone calls. We took possession of our new home in June 2018, and it exceeded all of our expectations. What makes this especially impressive is that we live in Hong Kong, and managed just one site visit during the five month building phase. This really is testimony to Cinda's thoroughness and dedication to helping her clients achieve the best result possible. Importantly, Cinda has the skill of guiding but not leading; she would suggest options and improvements from time to time during the design and build, but always made it clear that the final decisions were ours to make, and she respected those decisions. We highly recommend Speedy Gomez Design & Draw, and would not hesitate to contract Cinda again. Such was our satisfaction with her services, and confidence in her ability to get the job done, that we asked her to remain on board as our project manager after the design phase was completed. And to our delight and benefit, she agreed.”

“If you are looking for a home builder company who has flexibility and aptitude for design, as well as great build quality. I thoroughly recommend Allarohomes. I have had the pleasure of building our first home with Allaro. From start to finish we received honest open communication, no hidden costs or extra. Friendly staff who always look after their clients. Delivered in the time frames given, we were happy at every stage. we would use Allarohomes again in the future.”

“We approached Neater Constructions with a few ideas for our new home, the team did a fantastic job making our dreams a reality, everything from our concept to planning and through to completion of the build. First class!”