introducing three stems building designs
hi! i’m stella
I’m a mum of two funny and adorable little people. I’m also a building designer – AKA Building DesignHer.
I’m just passionate about houses, and always have been. So much so, that my oldest has pegged out her career as a Building Designer Boss, so she can work with me FOREVER! (my youngest wants to be a dinosaur though – funny and adorable, am I right?!)
But back to why I love designing houses… Because that’s where we do our living. We recharge, refresh and relax in these spaces.
I love the stories that houses can tell. I’m fascinated by the subtle clues they often leave, allowing us to deconstruct the history of potential previous renovations and understand how the home was used in another life.
I grew up in Brisbane in a Queenslander home and loved the quirkiness of the house. My dad, being a painter and decorator in the ’90s, made it even more so. There was colour everywhere. As a kid, I was forever drawing plans for an elaborate cubbyhouse in our mango tree that was promised but never arrived, and an attic with a killer spiral staircase that never materialised. Maybe my projects were too ambitious? Or perhaps they just weren’t compliant with council regulations!
To pursue my passion, I studied a Diploma of Interior Design and Technology, to learn construction methods and how to design, draft & document plans officially. Amidst life’s whirlwind, I returned for another round as a mature-age student and earned my Bachelor of Design from Griffith University (aced it BTW), renovated my own home, had children, and became a licensed Building Designer.
I love that as designers, we can utilise snippets of ideas we see elsewhere and reimagine them in another form. As a building designer, what we create and what we put onto paper forms how we will live. Design designs us.
Nearly 20 years later, I still love designing & documenting new homes, renovations and extensions for my clients.
I believe these broader life experiences help me better understand the needs of families, allowing me to create functional solutions and work with existing resources to achieve practical and beautiful outcomes. I would love to bring my passion for home design to your next project. Let’s create spaces where your best memories will unfold.
philosophy & essence
Learning
Bachelor of Design, interior Environments
Building Designer • QBCC 15055942
Diploma of Interior Design & Technology
Designing
Appreciate, honour & respect that the space designed, influences how you live.
Believe in simplicity and practical designs, for livable solutions.
Living
Reduce, reuse, recycle & renovate.
stem¹
noun
the stalk that supports a leaf, flower, or fruit.
verb
stem, stemming to arise or originate.
stem²
noun
stemmed, stemming to make progress against [any opposition].
verb
stemmed, stemming to make headway against [a tide, current, gale etc].
stem³
noun
the main, or usually vertical stroke of a letterform
