Durack Architects

Durack Architects A Bronte based architecture & interior design practice committed to enriching lives through carefull Registered in NSW and QLD

Specialists in complying development and DA approvals for single and multi residential projects.

DM CLARITY and I’ll send you the first steps to understand what you should be doing before you start designing.If you ha...
04/09/2026

DM CLARITY and I’ll send you the first steps to understand what you should be doing before you start designing.

If you have been thinking about renovating for two years, the problem is probably not indecision.
It is uncertainty.

You may already know what you want the house to become.
What you do not know is whether the site allows it, whether council will support it, whether the budget makes sense, or whether you are about to head down the wrong path.

Those are expensive questions to get wrong.
And they are difficult to answer by doing more research yourself.

The important thing to understand is that speaking to an architect does not have to mean committing to an entire project from day one.

That is why we created Clarity Before Commitment.
Two smaller services designed to answer the important questions first.

The 7 Day Approval Pathway Review looks at what options are possible and the approval pathway options
The 14 Day Site Potential Plan goes further and explores how those opportunities and constraints could translate into a better home.

The idea is simple.
Get enough professional information to make a confident decision before making a larger commitment.

DM CLARITY and I’ll send you the details.

02/09/2026

DM me to book a free 20 minute strategy session and understand how we can help you work out the right approach for your home.

This heritage house in Randwick is currently for sale.
At first glance, the obvious renovation move might be to add a first floor.
But because the existing house is a local heritage item, that could become a difficult conversation very quickly.

I would look at the site differently.

The original heritage portion of the house sits towards the front, while a more recent addition occupies the rear.
Remove that later addition and something interesting appears.
A substantial setback along the northern boundary.

Rather than building up, I would explore using that space to create the additional bedrooms at ground level.

That does three useful things.
It gives the heritage building more breathing room.
It allows the new living areas to face north, where the better light and outlook are.
And it creates the opportunity to organise the house around an internal courtyard, with the western rear garden becoming a second outdoor frontage.

The result could actually be a better house than simply adding another storey.
Better heritage outcome.
Better orientation.
And potentially a less expensive build because much of the new accommodation remains at ground level.

This is why I would never start a renovation by asking, “What can we add?”
I would start by asking, “What is this site already giving us?”

Comment HOME to understand what you should be thinking about before you start designing.Almost everyone tells us they wa...
31/08/2026

Comment HOME to understand what you should be thinking about before you start designing.

Almost everyone tells us they want more natural light.
But more light is not necessarily better light.
A room flooded with direct afternoon sun can be uncomfortable.
Soft light from above can make a space feel completely different from a large window beside you.
Filtered light can create privacy while still making a room feel open.

So the more useful question is not:
How do we get more light in?
It is:
What do we want the light to feel like?

At Bronte Tasma House, we spent a lot of time thinking about exactly that.
Where should morning light arrive?
Where did we want softer, more passive light?
Where did we need privacy from the street?
And where could a carefully positioned opening create a particular view or moment within the house?
Sometimes the answer was a larger opening.
Sometimes it was a highlight window.
And sometimes adding another window would actually have made the room worse.

Natural light is not simply something you maximise.
It is something you design.

Although if you are trying to cut a tomato, a little more probably does help.

DM CLARITY and I’ll send you the first steps to understand what you should be doing before you start designing.That wall...
28/08/2026

DM CLARITY and I’ll send you the first steps to understand what you should be doing before you start designing.

That wall you keep looking at probably is not the thing holding the renovation back.
The unanswered questions are.
Can it actually come down?
What can you build instead?
Will council approve what you want to do?
Will the budget support it?
And will the end result actually make the house work better for the way your family lives?

These are the questions that keep people researching, saving images and thinking about renovating for another year.
The instinct is often to start designing and work it out from there.
Thats backwards.

Before committing to a full architectural process, you should first understand the opportunities, constraints and likely approval pathway for your property.

That is why we created Clarity Before Commitment.

Two smaller first steps designed to give you useful answers before asking you to make a larger commitment.
Because the goal is not simply to start a renovation.
It is to start the right renovation.

DM CLARITY and I’ll send you the details.

26/08/2026

DM me to book a free 20 minute strategy session and understand how we can help you with your home.

Graffiti House started with a pretty unusual opportunity.
A former warehouse.
A corner site.
A park directly behind it.
And clients who were prepared to be adventurous.

The brief was to keep the character and openness of the warehouse, without ending up with one enormous room where everything happened in the same space.

The biggest move was opening a large section of the building towards the park and completely changing the relationship between inside and outside.

From there, the living spaces were organised around an internal courtyard.
Kitchen here.
Dining to one side.
Living to the other.
Study and home theatre tucked away where they could feel separate.
But almost every part of the ground floor remained visually connected through the courtyard.
That brought light deep into what otherwise could have been a very dark warehouse plan.

Upstairs, we used the same thinking.
The main bedroom was separated from the children’s rooms by a bridge, creating privacy while also producing a double height space through the centre of the house.

There were plenty of drawings, models, details and construction decisions between the original warehouse and the finished house.

But the fundamental idea stayed remarkably simple.
Keep the openness. Create definition. Bring light into the middle. And make the park part of the house.

That became Graffiti House.

Comment HOME to understand what you should be thinking about before you start designing.Some houses feel calm the moment...
24/08/2026

Comment HOME to understand what you should be thinking about before you start designing.

Some houses feel calm the moment you walk through the door.
Not because they are minimal.
Not because everything is expensive.
And not because someone chose the right marble.
Often it is because the house asks very little of you.
You understand instinctively where to go.
The kitchen works the way you expect it to.
Doors are where they need to be.
Circulation feels natural.
Nothing seems to fight against the way you actually live.

That was something we tested repeatedly while designing Bondi Hill House.
Not simply:
Does this look good?
But:
Does this feel effortless?
Because a lot of what makes a home work well is almost invisible.
You notice the awkward doorway.
You notice when everyone collides in the kitchen.
You notice when you have to walk around furniture to get outside.
But when the plan works, you often do not notice the architecture at all.
You just notice that the house feels good to live in.

Great homes reduce friction.
And perhaps that is one of the better definitions of luxury.
It feels effortless.

DM CLARITY and I’ll send you the first steps to understand what you should be doing before you start designing.A lot of ...
21/08/2026

DM CLARITY and I’ll send you the first steps to understand what you should be doing before you start designing.

A lot of renovation projects do not stall because people lack ideas.
They stall because there are too many unanswered questions.

What can actually be approved?
What is worth spending money on?
Are we looking at the right type of renovation?
Is this the right architect for us?
Are we about to spend tens of thousands of dollars before we even know whether the basic idea makes sense?

That uncertainty is what keeps people researching for another six months, then another year.

You do not need another saved image.
You need better information.

That is why we created Clarity Before Commitment.
Two relatively small first steps designed to help you understand the opportunities, constraints and likely approval pathway before committing to a full architectural process.

These are designed to give you enough clarity to make a sensible decision about what happens next.
DM CLARITY and I’ll send you the details.

19/08/2026

How do you renovate a heritage home without ruining what made it worth keeping?

DM YES and I’ll send you the first low commitment step to get your project started properly.

A heritage listing does not mean a house has to stay frozen in time.
Bronte Tasma House is a good example.

The existing house had strong heritage character, but a later rear addition had done very little to improve how the home worked for family life.

The challenge was to keep what mattered while making the house feel completely different to live in.

We removed the unsympathetic rear addition and introduced a new contemporary extension that was deliberately complementary rather than imitative.

The rear floor level was dropped to connect directly with the garden.

A new kitchen and living area became the centre of the home.
Highlight windows brought soft natural light deep into the plan while protecting privacy from the busy corner.

An open sculptural stair became more than circulation. It brought light into the living area, created filtered views outside and added a moment of drama at the centre of the house.

Upstairs, screening to the facade allowed light into the bedrooms while creating privacy from the street below.

None of these moves were considered separately.

Heritage, privacy, light, outlook, circulation and family life all had to work together.

That is what good planning should do.
This is Bronte Tasma House, from the original house to the finished home.

Address

Shop 1/118 Macpherson Street Bronte
Sydney, NSW
2024

Telephone

+61402425369

Website

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