Gordon Architects
The upper North Shore’s favourite family haven.
Sitting just 15km northwest of the Sydney CBD, Gordon is a suburban haven that feels worlds away from the city. Boasting excellent transport connections thanks to the A1 and A3, as well as train and bus services, the suburb is hugely popular with families, who enjoy the easy commute, sense of community, proximity to schools and quiet, tree-lined streets.
As with most Upper North Shore suburbs – particularly those within the Ku-ring-gai LGA, including Killara and Pymble – Gordon is well known for its tranquillity and affluence. It is truly a wonderful place to call home.
If you’re considering a renovation or new build, get in touch with our team. We’ll help you create the perfect home for your family, in a place you love.
We understand Gordon
Gordon has long been a sought-after pocket of Sydney. If you’re lucky enough to own a slice of this suburb, we’d love to help you craft a unique home that embraces everything it has to offer.
Our team knows how to respond to the natural environment to create homes our clients never want to leave. Elements such as double-height voids, strategically placed windows and thoughtful orientation can take a dwelling from good to truly exceptional and embrace views of the elevated, tree-lined streets that Gordon is well known for.
This diverse landscape has led to a beautiful mix of architectural styles in the area, including Federation bungalows, art deco and Interwar homes, and mid-century modern residences. Visitors can also marvel at prominent examples of the ‘arts and crafts’ style in the house museum Tulkiyan and William Hardy Wilson’s work of Colonial Revival architecture in Eryldene.
Because we’re Gordon architects we know:
Why residents choose Gordon and how to emphasise these special qualities in our architecture
How to respond to each site’s unique character – whether a home or apartment
The value of the suburb’s varying architectural styles
How to capitalise on bushland settings and leafy views
The importance of embracing passive design principles for smart buildings
How Gordon residents live, work and play – so their homes can reflect their lifestyles
How to design for bushfire resilience
That Gordon is a unique setting and its buildings must reflect this
The benefits of collaborating with clients to ensure we design a home they truly love
Our work
Gordon is a beautiful place to build. Our work here focuses on considered renovations and extensions that reflect the way our clients live, while also interacting with the natural landscape.
New home designs can ensure we get the fundamentals right and emphasise passive design and sustainability.
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While the gorgeous mix of architectural styles in the suburb are something to be celebrated, there is always room for improvement. Perhaps you need better functionality for your family, a more open feel to your home or you want to improve energy efficiency.
This is where Gordon house renovations can truly elevate your way of life.
Building new is also a great option, allowing you to get back to basics and design your dream home from scratch. As Gordon architects, we place a strong emphasis on sustainable design and allowing the home to respond to the surrounding landscape. We also strive to invite in as much natural sunlight as possible, insulate well for the cooler winters and of course maximise as much interaction with the leafy outdoors as possible.
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Gordon building design should also take into account bushfire resilience. While the suburb certainly isn’t as vegetation-locked as other nearby areas, it is still a leafy suburb with many mature trees and pockets of green.
At Ironbark Architecture we’ll always incorporate our knowledge of bushfire-resilient design into your home design to ensure we tick off all boxes. Depending on the location, we have a wealth of ideas up our sleeves – think fire-resistant materials, house orientation, considered landscaping and many more – to provide you and your home with the best protection.
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The team here at Ironbark Architecture is proudly passionate about passive and sustainable design. We believe it’s one of the hallmarks of good design, and we believe it should form the foundation of every newly built or renovated home.
We have learned how important it is to pay attention to the little details of a dwelling that ultimately make a huge difference to how its inhabitants enjoy living inside. This might be as minor as placing an awning at the perfect angle to invite the sunshine in through winter and keep the house shaded in summer. Or it might be more complex – orienting the entire structure so it captures breezes, regulates the temperature inside allows for optimal living.
Design isn’t just about slotting a window where the view is. It’s about having a holistic view of your site and creating a vision for your perfect home – one that considers the way you live, while optimising its natural advantages.
Our team specialise in
Built on trust
“We chose Ironbark Architecture for its strong emphasis on passive design and sustainability. Chris’ design for our house evolved in a collaborative process that ensured it sat well within the streetscape, surrounded by native plant landscaping.”
- STEVEN
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Frequently Asked Questions
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We’re a small team who is deeply passionate about working closely with our clients to design the very best home for your location and lifestyle. We’re experts in passive and sustainable design, bushfire-resilient architecture and ultimately, we genuinely care.
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First, reach out to our team by phone or online. We’d love to organise a time to chat about your visions and explain what we could bring to your project.
We like to get to know our clients so we can work out exactly what you need in your dwelling – even if you haven’t realised it yet. Maybe you’d adore a morning coffee with fresh air and sunlight, maybe you have small children and need the master close to the kids’ rooms, maybe you need an energy efficient home office with a view.
We also get to know your site. We assess the challenges and the advantages, so we can ensure we design the most sustainable home possible. We love a less-is-more approach, which means striving for structures that blend in with the surrounding landscape.
We will work closely with you throughout the design process and construction phase, to ensure you’re up to date. Our biggest satisfaction is watching our clients fall in love with their new home.
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Absolutely. In fact, this is one of the most common questions we’re asked, and it’s something we can guide you through with clarity and confidence. The right choice just depends on understanding a few key factors:
The condition of your existing home
Your budget
The planning controls on your site
The kind of home you want to live in
Your site’s topography and landscape
BAL ratings and requirements (if any)
Renovations are often ideal when the bones of the house are solid, and you want to preserve the character of your home. But a knock-down, rebuild can be a smarter option if the home no longer supports your needs, or modern living, or would require extensive structural work. And sometimes starting fresh can actually deliver better long-term value.
We can help you find the path that delivers the best outcome for you, your budget, your needs and your timeline.
Upper North Shore suburbs we service:
Waitara
Warrawee
Asquith
Cherrybrook
Gordon
Hornsby