STUDIO & PROCESS

We are a team of architects, designers and makers.

Justin Humphrey Architects is a Gold Coast based architecture studio that works towards crafting sculptural solutions that strengthen the connection between people and the land on which they live.

We love meeting new clients and working collaboratively with them to achieve elegantly resolved architecture that is responsive to both site and brief.

Our preference is to design sustainably with warm, honest and tactile materials to create buildings with a strong connection to landscape and place. They should be beautiful but ultimately, they should simply make you feel better for being in them.

Our work is highly awarded and located along the east coast from Noosa down to Byron Bay.

Team

Justin Humphrey
Director

Sam Merrett
Architect

Brittney Towse
Graduate of Architecture

Tim Cornish
Project Architect

Matt Peirce
Architecture Student

Jana Moore
Studio Coordinator

Process

Justin Humphrey Architects has developed into one of the leading residential architecture practices in the region, with success and experience across a variety of scales.

Every project in the studio is guided from beginning to end by a dedicated team made up of Justin and a project architect. The creation of bespoke residential architecture is a very personal journey, so our design process is highly collaborative as we engage clients in all stages of the design process and are open about our design thinking. This tends to achieve a project direction that all parties are excited about and feel they have ownership of.

Our best projects have always come from close collaboration with engaged clients, transparent communication and mutual respect.

This process involving rigorous testing of ideas, often against the client brief and budget, results in strong solutions that are both highly functional and beautiful.

We prefer warm, honest & tactile materials and always strive to create a strong connection with the landscape context of our projects.

This human connection to nature is deeply considered and integral to our work.

It is also important for us to design in consideration with local built form and history, producing rich projects that are respectfully part of their place.

FAQs

  • The first step is sharing your project details in our contact form so we can establish if we’ll be a good fit for each other.

    Then we’ll organise a Discovery meeting to learn more about you, your project and explain the ins and outs of the architectural design process. It’s always helpful if you are able to discuss your general style or material preferences, what is really important to you (eg natural light, connection to landscape) and maybe have some reference images. This meeting is really all about you and your project, simply explaining the process and making sure we can bring value to your project

  • Once we have completed our Discovery meeting and have a good understanding of your brief, budget and timeframe, we will prepare our Fee Proposal which outlines our services and associated fees in detail.

    Our fees are initially based on a percentage of your budgeted construction cost. Towards the end of the Concept Design stage, this budgeted construction cost is tested against the design to ensure adjustments don’t need to be made to either the brief, the budget or our fees. The key at this stage is clear and honest communication to ensure expectations are set and understood on both sides.

    Once construction commences on site, we continue to support you and the build team via a monthly retainer.  This allows us to ensure all that detailed consideration and decision making translates into the finished building.

  • All the projects in our office vary in both size and complexity but typically they take 12 months to design, document and be ready to start on site. This may sound like a long time but it is so important to allow adequate time for the required consideration and detailed decision making. Shortcuts here resulting in unresolved ideas, poor space allocation and missed opportunities can’t be fixed once the project is finished.

  • Yes.

    Some of our best projects have been more modestly scaled renovations. We get many clients that love certain qualities about our work but don’t have the budget or the same size project. While we can only take on a certain amount of smaller projects, they are given the same consideration and undergo the same rigorous design process as larger projects. Our renovation work is often done on much-loved existing buildings that simply need to be sensitively given a new life to suit changing needs.