I received a Facebook notification yesterday telling me that five years ago on this day, construction was completed on a major renovation I designed at Bells Beach. I forwarded this on to my wonderful client and this morning was invited to the house for a coffee. As I pulled into the driveway, I was struck by the way the house fitted into the environment of the Ironbark basin- 5 years of garden growth had really settled the house in. My former clients and now friends, N and S invited me into their house and I was overtaken with satisfaction with the job that I have the privilege of performing.

As they showed me, room by room, through the house we talked about the original building, the challenges, the decisions and the outcome of the two year process of design and construction. Over a coffee, I pulled out my phone and found photographs of the house before, my intervention. This 1980s double brick, exposed rafters and pine ceilings house was a complete mess and in need of a major renovation.

We talked of the impact of the one bold move – relocating a wall so that the kitchen faces the living room – on their lifestyle. This one idea, something that I intuited the very first time I walked inside the house, realised to principal central to most of my designs: making the kitchen the heart of the house.

We also talked about how the replacement of the tired timber cladding with Colorbond Monument worked with the brickwork to set the house into the green bushland landscape. And how the only addition to the existing building- the Master bedroom pod clad in fire-resistant Colorbond- fitted in with the language of the house.

Over our coffee driven conversation sitting at the kitchen bench, I had an overwhelming sense of the impact of this renovation on the lives of my friends and clients. Their sense of the house being such an intrinsic part of their lives- not only a place to live, but a part of them. As Nick texted me: “We LOVE it! It’s part of the environment and it’s a part of us”. I thjough- “my job is done…”

I don’t design houses for magazine covers. I design houses for people. I also design houses that respect the indigenous environment of the Surfcoast, aiming to minimise the impact of our interventions and to maximise the relationship between humans and the environment. I believe that the craft of architecture is under-valued in Australia – with volume builders offering “free” design services, and architects having a reputation for excessive and expensive designs. I always say that your investment in design will produce returns in terms of lifestyle, reduced energy in maintenance costs and, ultimately, through capital gains upon sale.

Ultimately, architecture is all about people: building a relationship of trust between the client and the architect and the architect working creatively and in consultation with clients to deliver exceptional outcomes. These outcomes are not measured by the number of Instagram hits or awards- but by how architecture impacts the lives of real people.

Sometimes, the only way you find the true measure of that impact of your work is to sit down with a cup of coffee five years after the building is handed over.

Thinking about who to hire for your Surf Coast project? Call Jeremy for a free 30-minute conversation — 0402 952 810.