How an architect's name can add allure and value to property
A great design by a well-known and respected architect can add huge value to a home, increasing the resale price by as much as 50 per cent, according to experts.
“A successful architect-designed home might make 30 to 50 per cent more than an unremarkable building of the same size in the same location,” says Stuart Gan, sales agent with Coast Realty on the NSW Central Coast.
“If the architect is well known and has a following that can also bring a lot of interest to a property too. You want a home to be very cleverly designed to make the most of its position, aspect and light.”
A good example is a home he’s selling at NSW’s Pearl Beach.
It was designed by architect Kati Westlake in 1990 to face north and capture views of the sand, ocean and bushland from every level and room.
The whole building on Green Point Road was cleverly pivoted and aligned at an angle to achieve the brief.
Because that’s exactly what architects can bring to projects, advises Tony Giannone, national president of the Australian Institute of Architects.
By talking to the client and working out what would best suit the site and their lifestyle, and end up with the greatest aesthetic and environmental result, they’re able to come up with designs that might be unimaginable to the rest of us.
“A good architectural design adds another layer of attractiveness to a home,” says Giannone.
“It also adds more in terms of the longevity of a property by making it generational and adaptable to the next buyer’s lifestyle too.
“People in this COVID environment also tend to have different demands of their homes in terms of outdoor living and working from home too, so a good design would be flexible enough to accommodate that too.”
Certainly, when accountant Sharron Probert and her husband David bought land on a clifftop at Palm Cove in Tropical North Queensland, she didn’t hesitate to engage an architect to come up with the best solution.
She settled on renowned architect Roger Mainwood, whose work she admired and whose brand she knew would bring even more allure to the final result.
He didn’t disappoint with a home on Colonel Cummings Drive that was cantilevered off the cliff to maximise the panoramic ocean views over Cape Tribulation, and which also dug down into the solid rock to create an underground home gym and 1200-bottle wine cellar.
“I didn’t want the house to look like a square box,” says Probert of Cliff House, which was completed in 2013 and which has now just been put up for sale.
“That could have been done a lot more cheaply but we wanted something much better designed.
“So, now we have a house that is so beautiful and very easy to live in, and with no supporting poles getting in the way of the view. Everything in the house flows, and we use every room and the views are never overwhelming as they’re all framed.”
The house, which took five years to build, also has lofty ceilings, an infinity pool, multiple decks and wooden panels throughout, in Burmese teak, tallowwood and black bean timber, with interiors by Stephen Collins.
Agent Jason Monk of McGrath Coolangatta/Tweed Heads/Tweed Coast says it’s a stunning example of how magnificently an architect-designed home can fit its setting.
“I think it has added enormous value,” he says.
“An architect is even more important when you have views or you’re on the waterfront, so you can capture those views and increase the value of the property immediately.
“A well-known architect can potentially add even more value, especially if they have some history or street cred in the area. People will know their style or their quirks and actually seek them out.”
An architectural brand is certainly useful, so clients understand from the beginning what they can expect from a particular company or practitioner, says Phillip Rossington, principal of architectural firm BVN.
“I always find it funny when people phone you after saying they just went through a phone book or heard your name,” he says.
“We then say they probably need to do a bit of research as you make a lot of decisions together and you need to be able to trust your architect.
“An architect will design for the individual and according to the site and the possible floor space and to make the best use of the solar and environmental aspects rather than just flopping out a home,” he says.
“Having a house absolutely tailored to its owner is a wonderful privilege to enjoy.”
In Melbourne’s Toorak Village, architect Robert Buckerfield from Buckerfield Architects designed a home – with Hecker Guthrie doing the interiors – that’s also just come onto the market.
Over five levels on Carters Avenue, it’s topped with a roof entertaining zone, and bottomed with a wine cellar and tasting room.
Agent Phillip French of Jellis Craig Stonnington says it’s been beautifully designed.
“It has so much light and is so well set up with an internal lift to all levels and all modern technology,” he says.
“Hecker Guthrie is also so well known with great credentials.
“But even when an architect isn’t so well known, an attractive home will always attract a lot of interest, and when an architect is well known, then there’ll be even more people coming to bid and push the price up. A good architect is always the best investment.”
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