Custom Home Design in Morningside

Why work with a design studio in your own neighbourhood

Most of our clients meet us at the Morningside studio early in their project. Being local matters more than it sounds: we can walk your site at short notice, sit down over drawings without a cross-town trip, and we already know the streets, blocks and housing stock of Brisbane's eastern suburbs because we drive through them every day.

The east side presents a particular mix of design conditions. Morningside's own streets carry a broad band of post-war weatherboard and brick alongside newer builds, while the neighbouring pockets of Balmoral, Hawthorne and Bulimba hold some of Brisbane's best-known character precincts, where pre-1947 protections shape what can be done. The terrain lifts from the river flats towards Seven Hills, so blocks that look flat on a map often step or fall away on site, and low-lying streets near the creek corridors warrant an early flood-overlay check. Getting a new home or major renovation right here is as much about reading the site and the planning framework as it is about the floor plan.

How the process works

Every project starts with a conversation and a fixed-price fee proposal, so you know your design investment before anything begins. From there the journey runs from concept sketches through design development, documentation and approvals, with the directors involved throughout. Homes we designed have won Master Builders Queensland House of the Year 2023 (Jacaranda House) and the Master Builders Queensland President's Award 2025 (Illalangi), and Clare House received the BIGSEE Architecture Award 2024.

Thinking about a knock down rebuild? The right pathway depends on your home's age and any character overlays on your block, which we assess early. Our knock down rebuild cost guide covers the numbers and the process.

Do you only work in Morningside?

No. Morningside is home base, and we design homes across Brisbane, the Sunshine Coast and the Gold Coast, with projects further afield by arrangement. Being based here simply means eastern-suburbs clients get the most convenient version of the process.