Smorgasboarder_16_March-2013

DESIGNING DREAM
BEACH PADS
Peter continued to work as a freelance draftsman at various
mining sites until the mid ‘80s when he headed back to the
Northern Beaches and rented 3sqm of office space from a
mate in Manly Vale.
“After a while I got listed in the phone book under drafting
so people would would ring up about a deck or a garage. By
the ‘90s the engineering side of things had near completely
dried up and the drafting got busier and busier.”
It didn’t prove enough though, and with three young boys
he was struggling to make any kind of headway financially.
Peter was playing squash with a group of guys each
week at the local courts when one of them, who knew
he was quite broke and trying to find a new career, put a
proposition to him. The said gentlemen mentioned he had
just bought a block of land overlooking Bilgola Beach.
“He said to me, ‘Have a go at designing a house for the
site, and if I like what you come up with, I will pay you
for it and build the house.’ I thought it was a really good
opportunity. Thankfully, he liked what I came up with. Not a
bad starting point for an architectural career.
“It’s still one of my favourite houses. Because I didn’t
know what I was doing, I didn’t have any restraints. With
my engineering background I made it like a giant hollow
pyramid with steel posts holding up the roof. It was eleven
metres high and occupied two-thirds of the site. You
couldn’t get away with it now because of energy rating
issues and building restrictions. It was an opportunity that
wouldn’t ever come along again.
“I continued doing the odd small project and then a couple
of other opportunities came along. I later joined the
Building Designers Association, which is for people like me
who haven’t got an architectural qualification. I submitted a
house I had designed for their awards and amazingly it won
the best house in NSW for its category, and I then went on
to the national design awards. Since then I have won 44
state awards in various residential categories.
“I was recently given an architectural diploma based on
the work I have done to date - work experience (he laughs).
So far I have completed about 1,000 projects and around
60-odd significant homes. Eight or ten are currently on the
drawing board. One project of late is quite significant. The
property is just south of Perth, and occupies a kilometre
of beach. There is no budget. The client owns the world’s
largest excavation company.”
“My lovE foR
SINGlE fINS
StEMS fRoM tHE
SuRfING tHEy
PRoDuCE.”
BELOW: Peter at work on
a budgetless house. Nice.
Photo: Dave Swan
lAtESt: living
mar/apr 2013 | SMoRGASBoARDER 87