Designed By Catherine Finlay

Catherine was extremely well organised and a wonderful designer to work with. She had access to an excellent network of builders, tradesmen and suppliers. Catherine was easy to talk to when communicating our ideas for the house. She listened attentively to our thoughts and incorporated them into her design where appropriate. Her expertise was invaluable throughout the build and she gave her advice clearly when needed at crucial times in the decision making process. Any issues that arose during the build were addressed promptly and respectfully by Catherine and her team of tradesmen. Despite the impacts of the 2021 Covid Pandemic, our building schedule was managed smoothly and efficiently. Catherine was instrumental in achieving a wonderful renovation outcome with which we are absolutely delighted.

Catherine is a pleasure to work with. She has a calm sensible practical approach to designing a home around family needs. I love her creativity and ability to solve design issues. She allows the client to have autonomy by supporting suggestions that differ from her own. Catherine‘s project management is excellent. She has a great team of builders, suppliers and other contacts needed for renovations. One of her considerable talents is being able to problem solve. We have had an uneventful build and she has been a sheer joy to work with. Our renovation is stunning!!

Catherine began on our home build project, early in the 2020 Covid lockdowns when she took over from our original architect, who was unable to continue with our project. Not an easy situation, but she was most gracious with taking on another’s plans, and we originally thought her primary role would be only getting plans through approval and project management. From this unusual start, Catherine has excelled and has proven to be one of the best decisions we’ve ever made. She has skilfully project managed our planning approval and build with professionalism, unfailing attention to timing/supply schedules and seamlessly managed all the endless detail. She’s made the management of a long complex build seem relatively easy, keeping us well informed, and well organised, throughout the build. Magic! Happily we’ve experienced considerably less stress on the project than we had feared, especially with all the delays and trials of a ‘Covid build’. However Catherine’s other ‘super power’ has been her design vision and creativity mixed with a sound practical sense of how homes need to work for “real’ families. Her design talents have proved invaluable and helped to transform our original, very good floor plans into an exceptional, made for living home that truly suits us beyond what we ever thought we could achieve. She’s been a delight to work with and I cannot recommend her talents and services highly enough.

Catherine designed major renovations and much-needed repairs to our 100-year-old four-bedroom home to enable us to enjoy it for years to come. She listened closely and warmly to our ideas and priorities, and thought creatively about how the structure could be used for all our needs: living, working from home, entertaining, etc. We are absolutely thrilled with her design and the flexible and beautiful spaces that it has produced. We appreciated Catherine’s flexibility on her involvement in our project. During the early stages Catherine and her network of professional contacts (surveyor, QS, engineer, arborist, etc) provided fantastic, detailed guidance, advice, and execution of all aspects of the work. Even with COVID restrictions, this gave us a dream run through the processes of Council approval, tendering and engaging a builder. With an exceptionally good builder in place, we appreciated being able to approach Catherine from time to time for suggestions or advice when needed. Catherine also gave us access to outstanding suppliers (tiles, kitchen appliances etc) and we really love the quality & beauty of the finishes we have been able to choose within our budget.

Catherine was amazing to work with. She was enthusiastic about my brief, also helped in internal design solutions. Amazing detail & thought process throughout the entire design process. Made it a very easy & effortless process designing our dream home within strict council constraints. We are so grateful for all the advice she gave us. We wouldn't hesitate to recommend her to anyone planning a build.

Catherine has worked with us now on three properties. Each time she has taken care to understand our needs and tailored solutions to suit them. We have found Catherine and those tradesmen she works with to be a delight always willing to help achieve a shared vision is time and on budget. Catherine has very capably managed the processes of design, dealing with Council and Certifiers, Builders and Trades for all our projects. We would confidently recommend "Designed by Catherine Finlay" to anyone wanting a highly skilled professional to manage their renovations/builds.

Catherine has been superb from the start to the finish of this project. She is stunningly efficient, super experienced, a terrific listener and always able to work toward solutions. She is realistic about budget and timeframes, a great designer who understands the brief and is able to both offer opinions and allow you to make decisions. Catherine has wonderful relationships with builders and suppliers and makes this process a dream. I cannot recommend her highly enough. I'm so delighted to be able to narrate such a warm successful professional relationship. I will always speak really highly to others of Catherine's work.

We have worked with Catherine on several projects. Her work ethic is second to none. Her planning, coordination, and execution throughout the building process were excellent. As clients, Catherine kept us informed, managed all expectations, coordinated all aspects of the build, and delivered a quality build in a timely manner. We wholeheartedly recommend Catherine and DBCF.

Catherine has worked with my family and I on two projects now. The second project being a full renovation of our house from top to bottom including a large extension and pool! Catherine has designed a house that fits beautifully with our family, is functional and beautiful! Catherine is pragmatic and has worked with us as the build has progressed being available for questions and consults. For key decisions she’s on site walking me through options. Catherine is well connected to builders and other suppliers and helped run the tender process to select our builders for both projects. Importantly Catherine is also aware of our budget, something that not all architects are. She works with me to consider how we will use a space or a product and what will therefore be best for us as a family and for our budget. We can’t wait for the builder to finish so we can move in! Definitely recommend Catherine to others seeking an architect who is easy to work with and designs lovely homes for families!

Catherine has designed two renovations for us and we have found her excellent to work with on both occasions. She finds creative solutions, designs beautifully functional spaces (including pools), is very responsive and takes care of all the approval processes. Catherine has also been a wealth of knowledge when it comes to materials, suppliers and trades, helping us to find a great builder we have used for both projects.

Timely and manages to a plan with a coordinated set of deliverables. Cost of service appears reasonable but I don't have any direct comparisons -- we primarily selected Catherine based on recommendations and her assistance in framing the works programme

Catherine was patient with us as first time renovators, was very conscious of our budget, really understood our needs, and based on her experience had a good point of view on how our needs are likely to change . She incorporated quite a few wow factors, and has a great sense of when to give a firm recommendation on design choices vs. frame options and leave to personal preferences. We absolutely love the space - to live in, entertain and host house guests - and are looking forward to enjoying it for decades to come