“It was our lucky day when we found Sarah Rickard! We were in the throes of a major renovation to our two storey 1980’s brick house and needed an architect. We had done most of the internal work ourselves and had found it very challenging on occasions, especially dealing with the Council Planning Department, Building Inspectors etc. etc. However when it came to the external structures of the house we decided we needed to consult an architect, something we had been reticent to do previously mainly for fear of being coerced into things we didn’t really want. When Sarah came along the first thing she did was to listen to us until she fully understood what we were trying to achieve. She never tried to foist her ideas on us but was always very constructive and knowledgeable regarding the feasibility of our ideas. We found it very easy to talk to her and she would always respond promptly and honestly to any of our queries. We particularly appreciated her expertise and invaluable input regarding the ecological impact of the changes we were proposing. In addition to this we found Sarah to be extremely competent in dealing with all the authorities required for permissions and other paperwork required for the renovation. We would have absolutely no reservation in recommending Sarah to anyone thinking about building or renovating. In fact, we would say consult with her sooner rather than later as she will be of immense help in formulating your ideas and offering alternative suggestions that will save you time and money and prove truly invaluable to your project.” C&M. H., Yarraville, July 2019
“I was referred to Re-Architecture by a sustainable building company we approached to renovate our 1960s brick veneer home. Sarah’s first visit proved she genuinely ‘walks the talk’, as she arrived promptly on her bike, from the other side of Melbourne. Friendly and an outstanding listener, Sarah always displayed endless patience with my many questions and changes of mind. She helped us enormously with ideas, and later the physical plans, to bring about many sustainable changes. (These included improving our insulation, upgrading the windows and doors, adding water tanks to supply toilets and garden, and solar panels will follow soon.)
The project ended up expanding beyond the sustainable aspects, however, as we took full advantage of having Sarah as our architect, and also an outstanding building company that was interested in doing the structural work. With this team supporting us all the way, we turned a lot of dream ideas, such as knocking down an internal wall to bring light flooding into our lounge area, and swapping the kitchen with the dining space to take advantage of our back garden view, into wonderful reality. Throughout the process, Sarah was hugely generous with her time and efforts at putting our ideas into the plans, and communicated effectively with the builder and the structural engineer. I always trusted her to advise us fully and to the best of her ability. In just a few weeks, we will be moving into our beautiful ‘new’ house and cannot wait to experience all the upgrades in our living experiences on a daily basis. Thank you so much, Sarah!” CS and SOC, Vermont, May 2024
