Kirsten Johnstone Architecture

Having worked with Kirsten and the KJ Architecture team on multiple projects now, as a builder, I can confidently attest to the consistently outstanding experience they provide. Kirsten's leadership and architectural design expertise consistently surpass expectations. The collaborative approach ensures valued input, leading to a smooth and enjoyable construction process. Meticulous attention to detail results in finished products that exceed objectives. Throughout construction, the team's responsiveness and adaptability showcase their professionalism. I highly recommend Kirsten and the team at KJ Architecture for their talent, dedication, and client-centric approach.

We had the pleasure of working with Kirsten from Kirsten Johnstone Architects on a recent architectural project, and we wholeheartedly recommend their exceptional skills, dedication, and expertise. Kirsten stands out for her impressive design sense and commitment to delivering innovative solutions. Throughout the project, we were consistently impressed by Kirsten's ability to turn abstract concepts into stunning architectural designs. Her creative vision and attention to detail shone through every aspect of their work. From initial sketches to final blueprints, her designs surpassed our expectations and perfectly captured our vision. What truly set Kirsten apart was her ability to balance functionality and aesthetics. She seamlessly integrated practical considerations with unique and imaginative elements, adding a distinct touch to the project. The end result exceeded our needs and left everyone in awe. Aside from her exceptional design skills, Kirsten was a consummate professional. She actively listened, collaborated effectively, and provided valuable insights. Her ability to explain complex architectural concepts in clear language helped us make informed decisions and ensured a smooth workflow.

We engaged Kirsten to design a home that incorporated many aspects that we like from Japanese architecture, while still being faithful to a modern western home. Right from the outset we knew that Kristen had a high attention to detail. For our first meeting she had already understood all the planning overlays (and there were quite a few) for our block and the challenges this may have for our design. This gave us a great deal of comfort. Kirsten is upfront and honest about what is and is not feasible. The KJA team's interaction with the council along the way also very encouraging and whatever the council required was provided in a timely manner and with the outcome we were after. In one instance this meant arguing for (and receiving) a special dispensation for one breach of the block's restrictions. The ultimate design was quite innovative in how it delivered on our brief whilst managing the restrictions. We also liked the way the KJA team provided good examples of materials and fixtures we might use to give life to the design. For time poor people this was very helpful indeed. Our overall experience was a very good one and we would have no hesitation in recommending Kirsten and her team to someone who wishes to design a bespoke home to enjoy!

Kirsten has been extremely professional and patient with us during our COVID-interrupted planning and renovation journey the last 3 years. She is always prepared during our meetings, takes on board our feedback, and is a delight to work with. Thank you Kirsten, and all the best for 2022!

Kirsten has been an amazing person to work with. She is extremely professional, efficient, proactive and personable. We had a few meetings during the sketch design process to refine the sketch each time to the one that suited us perfectly. The best part of the experience was that Kirsten was always honest as to the pros and cons of any ideas we had. If there was an architectural, design or practical reason as to why one of our ideas was not ideal/optimal for whatever reason (e.g. cost, functionality, buildability), Kirsten would provide the reasoning and we'd be able to make an informed decision. She was also quick to respond to emails and would provide an updated version of the sketch design within a few days/one week of our catch-up meeting. Kirsten also has a detailed knowledge of design ideas and building materials, and was able to provide a design that fitted with our sustainability and passive heating/cooling requirements. It was a pleasure to work with Kirsten and I couldn't recommend her highly enough!

Kirsten Johnstone Architecture prepared the design and obtained town planning approval for a major renovation at our Bayside home. Shen knew the requirements for working with sites less than 500m2 very well, and worked smoothly and efficiently to prepare the documentation. Unfortunately, we decided to change houses and so did not proceed with the renovation. Great working with Kirsten

We are so thankful that we found Kirsten Johnstone to design the transformation of our old home! From the time we first met, Kirsten made us feel completely comfortable which was important to us when inviting her into our rundown home filled with the clutter of a family of five. Kirsten’s kindness and use of humour plus her understanding of life in a busy household enabled us to easily build a rapport and gave us confidence that Kirsten understood our needs. Kirsten faced quite a challenge in designing the complete renovation and extension of our home. We needed more living space, more storage, larger bedrooms, a smart/functional kitchen/bathrooms and overall to have an interior/exterior facelift with the result being a home we could be proud of. Kirsten “nailed” our brief! Her designs offer wonderful functionality but also creativity and style which will modernise our home whilst preserving it’s character. Kirsten always listens carefully and has encouraged us to be creative with our ideas but she also has the knack of gently offering alternate options if our ideas were becoming unrealistic in relation to budget or practicality. We have been so grateful of Kirsten efficiently managing every step of our design process, including liaising with council, contractors and then builders throughout the tendering process. We can’t wait to see the end result of our project in 2021. We highly recommend Kirsten to transform anybody’s renovation dreams into a reality!

We have engaged Kirsten on three different home renovation projects. We have been extremely happy with the design process and outcome from each project. Kirsten's creativity, flexibility and professionalism enabled us to achieve excellent outcomes. Kirsten was great to work with as she was very responsive and communicated regularly with us throughout the projects. Kirsten was strongly focussed on meeting our requirements throughout the design and construction process but also offered creative and innovative design ideas. She was able to provide many thoughtfully considered, cost effective and visually appealing design features as we moved forward. These attributes assisted us to achieve attractive and highly functional living spaces in each case. We strongly commend KJ architecture for any prospective home builder or renovator seeking bold but practical architectural designs.

We engaged Kirsten of Kirsten Johnstone Architecture following a recommendation from a builder and friend, for a large renovation just over 2 years ago. From the first site meeting I had complete confidence in Kirsten and her ability to understand what we were after. I wasn't wrong!! Not only has Kirsten designed an amazing house, she has now turned it into a home with some incredible styling. Kirsten listened to what we were after and didn't push her own vision onto us. The project has only recently finished following 2 years of constant works and Kirsten was there right the way through the process. The home we have, is now an amazing mix of what we wanted and Kirsten's many design ideas. The family love each and every space created and we know that the home will be well used for many years to come. I will definitely be using Kirsten for the next project, whether its a home to live in or a weekend getaway.

We worked with Kirsten on building a new façade to an existing warehouse/manufacturing plant. Kirsten made the whole process very easy, handling all facets of the project from concept drawings, carpark layout, council permits, working drawings and all the little bits that normally cause problems. It was a pleasure to work with Kirsten and we found her very skilled in all aspects of the project. She was always only a phone call away and it was fantastic to have such a good communicator working with us on the project. Would highly recommend Kirsten .

Earlier this year, our small not-for-profit relocated from a fully-furnished office to a new unfurnished space in a heritage building, with loads of character but some unique challenges. I have long-admired KIrsten's intuitive sense of style and asked her to provide some informal advice on how best to set up the layout of the office. Given this was a pro bono job, I imagined she would come and have a quick look at the space, provide some guidance on where to position key pieces of furniture and perhaps offer some offer some stylistic advice on colours and feature pieces. She went so much further, measuring up the space and providing a range of thoughtfully laid-out plans, with alternative options for us to consider. She also assisted with additional plans after we have a boardroom table donated that was much larger than we had planned for. Having followed Kirsten's plan, the office has a wonderful feel and our staff., volunteers and guests often comment on what a great space it is. During this process, I found Kirsten to be highly professional and responsive, and clearly she also has a big heart and a commitment to giving back! I can highly recommend her.

We were referred to Eco Edge Architecture to help bring our home ideas to reality. We were looking to create a place that is contemporary, natural and most of all respected the National Trust - Significant Landscape Overlay (SLO) of the surrounding area. Kirsten worked with us every step of the way and at all times had to balance our dreams with Council requirements and the challenges of the SLO. We have attached some photos of our favourite design features that Kirsten created for us. These include a rammed earth wall, a custom-designed natural timber staircase complete with modern handrail leading to an uninterrupted treetop view and a beautiful exterior that will over time blend back into an indigenous landscape. We've ended up with a home where local residents and passers-by are constantly giving us positive feedback. The one thing that's always said is your home looks like it belongs to the area. This means everything to us as we at all times wanted to create a home that was respectful now and for many years to come. We would not have achieved this result without the professionalism and experience of Kirsten and Eco Edge.

At Builders of Architecture our team are only to aware of the experience required to deliver high quality outcomes for our clients, without an Architect to collaborate effectively this is very hard to deliver... Kristen’s professionalism and attention detail was and is the best our team at BOA have experienced, questions clarified immediately, documented and revised instantly, enabling our team to keep everyone and everything in flow delivering a positive experience to our mutual clients and our teams... The guys keep asking when our next job is coming from Eco Edge! Anyone looking to have someone in your corner should look no further! Adam Wolfe Co - Founder Builders Of Architecture

We had the challenge of wanting to renovate our Victorian era property as well as adding a modern rear extension. Kirsten was so helpful in guiding our design as well as ensuring it took into consideration our family and lifestyle, plus my quirks about being obsessed with storage & symmetry! She patiently reworked and refined the design over a 12 month period. Her attention to practicality & detail helped to ensure that our build was a lot less stressful than it could have been. We can't imagine how we lived in the old space for so long and have Kirsten to thank for all the lovely compliments we receive on our beautiful new home.

I have photographed a number of Kirsten's projects over the last few years. Not only is she a pleasure to work with, but the feel of the homes she creates is both warm and tasteful. I have always been impressed with the effective use of space, the amount of light drawn into the spaces, connection to the garden, and the beautiful, unique detailing Kirsten manages to incorporate into each project. I'm very much looking forward to working together again and can't recommend Kirsten and her work highly enough.

Kirsten was our architect for every stage of a major renovation of a heritage home in Richmond. We initially selected Kirsten because of her professional approach and her design ideas for our home. Kirsten listened carefully to what we wanted and developed and integrated these ideas into what has turned out to be a fabulous space and home. We valued her guidance, advice and management through each stage of the process from initial design to dealing with our local council and the tender process to engage a builder. During the build she was exceptional in her attention to detail and management of the build on our behalf. Her interior design skills were an additional plus during the build in ensuring a very polished and well thought out final outcome. We always felt like she was our advocate in what was at times a stressful renovation process. We would highly recommend Kirsten to anyone considering a renovation.

We hired Kirsten to prepare concept designs and subsequently detailed documentation for the complete renovation of our home in Brunswick. Kirsten was a pleasure to deal with and highly collaborative in her approach. Her design approach was first class and her thoughtful consideration throughout the detailing has meant we have many lovely design features throughout our home. She prepared all tender documentation and supported us in selection of our builder. During the build she was available to answer queries and completed the final handover inspection. I have no hesitation in highly recommending Kirsten and would absolutely use her again.

As a builder it is great to work with a highly skilled and motivated Architect as it makes the entire build process so much smoother for all involved. Kirstens plans were details and extremely well thought out. She had some great ideas and made the home modern and functional for the clients. She had great communication throughout the entire build process. I have no hesitation in recommending her to my clients in the future.

We used Kirsten do help us finalise some house designs. To be clear here, we didn't engage Eco Edge for full architectural services so I'm not reviewing that whole process. I'm talking about the initial design and sketches/drawings. What I liked about Kirsten was her design skills, flexibility and manner. We have worked with architects before and sometimes they don't like to budge on their preferred designs, and use selective information processing when dealing with the client. When an architect comes in and says up front "the most important thing is that you do what you want", it helps. Kirsten was very flexible and understood straight away what we were trying to achieve (not the Taj Mahal). She offered some smart design solutions, clever use of storage space, great kitchen and bathroom layouts. She also went out of her way to think further than what we just discussed in our meeting. Kirsten was willing to work on an hourly rate, came into a job that already had others do design work in it; didn't scrub it and start again, but added great value. No time delay issues or any other issues. I highly recommend.

We engaged Kirsten to develop a new colour scheme for our 1920's California bungalow. We wanted an elegant colour scheme, contemporary yet simple, elegance. Kirsten undertook a site visit and gained a sense of who we are. She provided an extensive list of how the colour scheme is to be applied which exceeded all expectations. She also provided some optional extras which were out of scope but outstanding. Kirsten also provided colour examples too. Kirsten was thorough, efficient, cost effective and just a delight to work with. Our house will be painted in September 2017.

Our experience of using the architectural services offered by Eco Edge Architecture + Interior Design has been exceptional. From our first meeting with Kirsten we knew she clearly understood our brief and budget. The process of working through from this initial brief to our final plans for construction was seamless with Kirsten being able to readily work with us and understand and design our requirements. She met all the timelines set for us and made herself available with meeting times to suit our lifestyle. Kirsten's professionalism was evident throughout her time working with us and providing us with well thought through options. Our requirements included changing our home from one to two storeys, aligning this addition to the original 1970,s architecture, making zones within the home for a family life of 5, creating extensive storage options and being as environmentally friendly as possible within a large family home. Through the process we were excited by many of Kirsten's design features including a feature tiled 2-storey blue-stone wall (to act as a thermal mass behind a wood heater), extensive joinery throughout the home, inclusion of rain water tanks to service our bathroom and laundry, a laundry chute from the children's bathroom to the laundry, 3 metre high ceilings throughout the living space and the continuation of raked ceiling and inclusion of remote controlled opening clerestory windows garnered from the original design of our home. Kirsten also included replacement of all roofing and plumbing and feature cladding on our external walls within the plans. We were very happy with the final plans for construction and would highly recommend this firm for architectural and design services. Our home is currently being built to these plans.

Kirsten's design of our new house was not only aesthetically pleasing but totally practical too. She carefully considered all of our requirements and clearly understood what we ‘liked’ and ‘disliked.’ Working with her to create our dream home was great fun and a true collaboration. The result of her clever design is a beautiful home beyond our imagination. We highly recommend Kirsten and would definitely use Eco Edge if we were to build/renovate again in the future.

I first met Kirsten through mutual friends a few years prior to purchasing my wool shop (we sell yarn and needles, etc for handknitting) and so when it came to redesigning the layout of the entire store I immediately thought she'd be a fantastic help, knowing both the architecture world and the knitting world. I had a fair idea of the look I wanted to achieve and the rough layout of the room and of the shelving units to store all our yarn. Kirsten was very enthusiastic and immediately understood my ideas. She was a great help in figuring out the tricky aspects of the layout and offering advice on style and colour choices for the painting, lights etc. She also completed all the technical drawings which I needed for my cabinetmaker. Kirsten was very professional, friendly, completed everything in a timely manner and got back to me quickly if she needed any input so that things could keep moving quickly. She's a really lovely person and has great taste too! Can't recommend her highly enough!

They say that renovations are on the list of some the most stressful things people can experience in their lives. Well, they obviously haven't met Kirsten Johnstone. From the get-go she is reliable, professional and interested. And her talent speaks for itself. Not only can she perfectly translate your ideas and desires into cohesive plans, but she is able to see the big picture - suggesting and encouraging alternate ideas, where necessary. I would highly recommend Eco Edge Architects.

Kirsten is an excellent communicator and more importantly an excellent listener who takes the time to get to know her clients and get an understanding of what they are looking for in their home. She listened to our thoughts and ideas and then combined them with her own thoughts and expertise giving us an end result that we LOVE. She was professional and timely throughout and readily available. She is a talented architect who is also a pleasure to work with - I can not recommend her highly enough!

We've worked with Kirsten since 2007, undertaking a complete redesign of our house in Warrandyte in two stages, the first stage completing late 2009 and the second in 2013. Kirsten was given a very open brief with two significant requirements: move all the living areas from the south side of the house to the north; accommodate my mother-in-law in away that created one single coherent residence for the future but gave my mother-in-law privacy now. The result is outstanding. Kirsten created a bright, open space that drew on influences from Japan and Frank Lloyd-Wright. She worked with complete respect for the landscape in bushy, semi-rural Warrandyte, but managed to transform the interior of our house into something modern but not austere. The front entrance is a wonderful piece of design, opening the house up to the trees and hills in the east and providing a striking face to the street. The bathroom design makes amazing use of a relatively small space, and adds flair without being ostentatious. All in all, we couldn't have been happier with the result. Friends and family often say that it feels like they've stepped into a home from the pages of a magazine, or a modern chalet or beach house. The bespoke windows are particularly noted, making the outside world part of the interior. Kirsten herself is wonderfully creative, very collaborative and a genuinely nice person to work with. When we do our next home (which we will build from scratch), we fully intend to get Kirsten to design it. And this time, we'll probably just tell her to amaze us.

We had a delightful experience with Kirsten Johnstone of Eco Edge who provided us with complete designs for our renovated kitchen project. Kirsten made it seem easy to embark on a project that we had somewhat feared before we started. Kirsten clearly comes with a lot of experience and provided professional advice, yet we felt that she listened carefully to our brief and our own ideas too. She knows the industry well and has excellent recommendations for clever solutions, materials, subcontractors, environmentally friendly options and cost cutting strategies. Kirsten communicates extremely well around turn-around-times and kept us informed about how she was travelling against the cost estimates given to us. She didn't stray from the scope of works and delivered on time and within budget. Kirsten appears to approach even smaller projects, such as a kitchen renovation, with enthusiasm. She obviously takes pride in the standard of her own work and appears genuinely interested in her clients' satisfaction. The plans which she produced made it straightforward for us to seek quotes from builders and subcontractors. We are extremely pleased with our kitchen and believe Kirsten was instrumental in the project and the end result. We would warmly recommend Kirsten to anyone about to commence a similar project and we would not hesitate to engage her again should we embark on something like this in the future.

We used Eco Edge Architecture to design our dream home. We were looking for a home that met our needs for the long term. Kirsten is professional, friendly, capable. innovative and accommodating of our needs. The end product is a fantastic home with enduring style and is extremely livable.