Poly Studio

I was always told never to mix friendship and money. So even though I have a friend who is an architect I decided to find someone online. The reason for my decision to go with Daniel was the alacrity of his email responses. I had nothing else to judge him on then. However, I realise my instincts were right - Daniel Wolkenberg has been outstanding in his service and work. At our initial consultation, he listened intently and reflected all my fanciful wishes in his selection of drawings. I often asked him to do unusual things and he would accommodate my whims but when it compromised structure he would gently point that out by saying “trust me on this”. We have not had an easy ride, as our plans were sent to 23 neighbours which happens when you live inner city. Daniel patiently revised drawings to accommodate objections and even handled a neighbour’s heavy handed lawyer’s notice with calm and clarity. To say I love him and his work would be an understatement. I would recommend him to anyone who wants a painless experience in an often difficult world of negotiating Councils, neighbours and lawyers.

Polystudio is to be highly recommended. Our brief involved the total reconstruction of a leaking upstairs ensuite bathroom with the addition of a European style laundry in the space created by the removal of an unwanted bath. Unexpected complications such as the discovery of underfloor structural deficiencies were speedily rectified by Daniel in consultation with the engineer and builder. Daniel understood and interpreted our ideas perfectly improving them with flare and functionality. He supervised our project, guided us with the choice of bathroom and laundry fittings and worked well with the team of tradesmen. We are thrilled with the outcome.

I have worked with Daniel from Poly Studio for 3 years so far. From my experience Daniel is able to understand the personal tastes and the use of the space to create a practical and appealing result for his client. There is a lot of detail and care put into outlining what is involved and what is specified leaving very little to interpretation which is great as a contractor. Great communication skills and open-minded when negotiating contracts and variations with trade specialists. Poly Studio will give you a personal experience with a professional result.

We hired Poly Studio for an internal reconfiguration of our house, including new entrance, new double glazing to the north, new kitchen and laundry within the original footprint of the house. Daniel was thoughtful about how best to use the spaces in our house, and transformed our kitchen from small and pokey to a far more bright, spacious and workable kitchen still within a relatively small space. Daniel was very responsive, an excellent communicator, and understood the needs of the family and our budget. I would absolutely recommend Poly Studio.

We have done a significant internal renovation on a big, old house. Daniel has excellent understanding of the sorts of structural and building issues that these houses have. He has found very functional and simple solutions to problems that appeared very challenging. His recommendations on finishes (flooring, paint etc) has also been excellent. I would like to make particular comment on his handling of issues relating to our overall costs. We have heard lots of stories of architects coming back with ideas and designs that while impressive, were double or triple the cost of the stated budget. Our experience has been the opposite. The initial contract price with the builder was exactly what we had in mind, and I credit Daniel with making sure we were able to achieve this. During the construction phase he was a very effective intermediary between us and the builders. Our builders were great too, but when required Daniel was very good at making sure that costs were contained as appropriate. He was able to explain building and engineering concepts to us in a way that meant we were able to understand what was going on. This was very reassuring. He has also given very good advice on issues relating to sustainability and energy consumption. My wife and I thought that this renovation was going to be stressful, but I can honestly say it's been easy, and on budget, and Daniel deserves the credit for this. I hope he posts some photos of our renovation for you all to see. H

It is rare to find an architect who has both strong conceptual design expertise as well as excellent attention to detail. Daniel does. His work was first-class. Poly Studio's client-centric and collaborative approach meant we were always kept in the loop and our ideas and views were taken on board. We were after an aesthetically pleasing, environmentally friendly and highly functional renovation. The result was exactly what we wanted. Light-filled spaces with clean lines and interesting geometry, that retain the warmth of the original structure. I commend Poly Studio to you. - Jason I would highly recommend Poly Studio. Their architect had a superb eye for colour and design aesthetic. Since our renovation through Polystudio, our whole house feels lighter. Polystudio were able to maintain the old world features of our weatherboard (which is over a century old), whilst adding natural light and modern touches. It is a mix of the best of the old and the new! - Ruth

We worked with Daniel Wolkenberg from Poly Studio from the design stage to completion and were impressed not only with the design but with the professional manner in which he dealt with the builder. The brief was to convert a run down farm house to a light filled holiday house. This involved reducing the footprint of the house by removing a number of additions, opening it up and including a large deck to capture the views of the rolling hills. All this within a limited budget.. The final design reflected our needs and expressed our wants beautifully, with the deck being a well used addition. As the house was in such bad repair, issues kept arising and Daniel worked with the builder to resolve these in the most cost effective manner. He was consultative and responsive at all times with both us and the builder and the result clearly demonstrates a clear understanding of us as his clients and the environment in which the house sits.