NSW Architects Registration Board No. 6828
We have worked recently with Dianna on two beach house projects. She has excellent local knowledge and is up-to-date with the latest trends, technologies and designs. She works with good builders and tradesmen, designs well and is always excited to speak to us as clients about our thoughts on her drawings and whether it suits our design intent. We appreciate her good communication skills and attention to detail. Whether it be a house renovation or new build, we would highly recommend Dianna as an architect.
Brad and Jenny, Killcare
DTA has worked on three different projects for us over a period of years. They include the design of an additional bathroom for a beach house, a heritage renovation in inner Sydney and the re-build of an 80’s house in the country.
Dianna is a delightful person to deal with, a thoughtful problem solver with a beautiful and practical design vision. She is without ego, allowing smooth progress and communication between architect, client and builder.
Dianna is a client-based architect, listening to our requests and interpreting them with elegance and logic. She has a great attention to detail. During our building work Dianna happily dealt with suppliers, co-ordinating selection, purchase, delivery and installation as required.
We would thoroughly recommend DTA for a beautiful, liveable outcome and an enjoyable design/build process.
Graham and Kate, MacMasters Beach, Surry Hills, Greg Greg
We have loved working with Dianna on our beach house project. She listened carefully to our needs & created a design that surpassed our imaginings and one that we are extremely happy with. Dianna cleverly reconfigured existing spaces, and produced a perfect new addition, which compliments & enhances the original house. Her collaborative approach and her successful working relationship with the builder was important for us, as most of the work was completed in our absence. We have the greatest admiration for Dianna's skills. Her designs, her attention to detail, her choices of interior and exterior finishes and her delightful personality made the whole project a pleasure for us. We could not recommend her more highly.
Chris and Julia, MacMasters Beach
We found Dianna “user friendly” from the start. She helped us to bring our idea of a simple beach cottage to life. Dianna has been practical and helpful all the way along, responding to questions and calls for help promptly and patiently. Thanks Dianna.
Jonathan and Jane Coultas - Clients, MacMasters Beach
Dianna’s role was somewhat limited in that the scope of works was only in respect of privacy screens and a front gate and fence. However, despite the limited nature of her retainer, Dianna applied herself cheerfully to the task and with good humour. She gave us sensible advice and we were happy with the outcome. Our design objectives were met and our house looks that much better thanks to Dianna’s involvement.
John and Linda Herlihy – Clients, Copacabana
Dianna Thomas renovated our beach house at Macmasters Beach in 2014. The redesign was simple but very imaginative. She designed a stylish update that incorporates many practical features that we love living with. The changes to the layout have made the house work much better as well as updating the look and feel. The kitchen is probably the best design of four kitchens we have built over the years in different houses. Dianna kept everything moving very smoothly during the renovation - with excellent contractors and suppliers. She made the renovation seem very easy, which is such a nice change. We would thoroughly recommend her.
Ian and Dee Roberts – Clients, MacMasters Beach
We found Dianna via an internet search and really liked her designs and ethos.
Our brief at first was to renovate our existing home, but as time went on we realised that due to site constrictions it would be easier to obtain the services of a builder if we started from scratch and built a new home. Dianna was extremely flexible and accommodating with this change in direction, and modified her original design, providing us with a lovely home that fulfilled all of the design brief.
Working with Dianna was such a positive and enjoyable experience, she was friendly, collaborative and had some great ideas on how to design a home that fit into the existing envelope, took advantage of the view and cooling breezes, paid homage to our old home and yet managed to tick all of the boxes on our must have list.
We would recommend Dianna to anyone contemplating using the services of an architect for their renovation or new build. We love living in our new home, it gives us the feeling of being on an extended, relaxing holiday (one of our must haves!).
Brian Frew and Georgina Parbery – Clients, Coal Point
We have been fortunate to have the pleasure of working with Dianna Thomas in the capacity of both client and builder. On meeting Dianna we were immediately impressed by the way she combines a professional approach with her warm, infectious manner.
Dianna has embraced several existing design challenges during the renovation of our own home and created many really beautiful elements. For us, she has simplified the entire process. Her abilty to listen, interpret and design is second to none.
Dianna approaches each project with her unique combination of passion and practicality. On site it is always impressive the way Dianna works with the entire team to ensure the client’s dream is met.
We would like to take this opportunity to enthusiastically recommend Dianna to any client or professional who has the good fortune of an opportunity to work with her.
Chris Wade Constructions
I was in a tight spot with having a house built on the Central Coast but living in Melbourne. I needed an architect to provide advice on the placement of Matrix covering at the front of the house. Looking online I saw Dianna had done some very interesting houses so rang her 'out of the blue' and asked if she could provide advice. Amazingly, she listened sympathetically, asked good questions, and then agreed to help me out by taking on this task and advising the builder in my urgent timeframe. She was prompt, effective and really pleasant to deal with. Thanks Dianna!
Marianne Doczi
We had never been involved in a renovation project before and had simply heard many friend's horror stories. Dianna helped us side-step the nightmares. She provided us with great ideas, a seemingly endless supply of local, top quality tradespeople, kept our budget under control and, most importantly, provided realistic, creative input into our project. The added advantage was that she is also friendly, down-to-earth and fun to work with. All in all we think Dianna made sure out renovation became a dream project rather than a nightmare. We still can't believe how wonderful our newly renovated house is!
Jackie and John – Balmain/Copacabana
Dianna is charming and knowledgeable and is also both creative and practical. She is very aware of local Council requirements and regulations. We are happy with her renovation of our beach house and look forward to working with her again.
Ian and Jan Muir – May 2012
Kate and I have worked with Dianna over many years both as a project manager and an architect. She has helped us with buildings in the eastern suburbs of Sydney and on the Central Coast. She has a wonderful grasp of all aspects of the building process from design through construction to the all important project completion phase.
Dianna is very approachable and responsive to ideas. She is an ideal partner for us, given our interests in modern, energy efficient buildings that are great to live in and lightly touch the earth. In the area of these interests she is able to track solutions and access diverse and unusual sources of design and architectural information.
She is resourceful and diligent in solving all problems that arise. We have found her approach to complex issue of design and construction both innovative and practical. We can very highly recommend her work in all phases of the building process.
Kate Gosford and Greig Pickhaver – March 2012
“When we decided to ask Dianna Thomas to build our new home we knew straight away that we had made the right choice. Diannaʼs enthusiasm for the project was infectious and what could have been a stressful undertaking proved to be an exciting adventure for all of us. Dianna was always keen to listen to our suggestions, answer our questions, settle our nerves, and keep us in the loop. But, most importantly, her creative and inspiring ideas took shape with barely a hiccup. Having Dianna as project manager ensured the high quality of workmanship and that the project came in on budget. We could not have asked for more. And we simply love our home.”
Dean Nottle, Client – Yattalunga
“Dianna Thomas designed our beach house at MacMasters which was completed in 2008. The result was a fantastic family home which accommodated all our needs but was also a contemporary design that will stand the test of time. Dianna was very easy to work with and explored many different design and product options for our project. She was also very conscientious regarding costs and always gave us a range of alternatives to consider. Dianna worked really well with our builder and the building process was a surprisingly enjoyable experience. Upon completion Dianna supplied us with a very comprehensive maintenance manual which is very useful. We would not hesitate to recommend Dianna Thomas Architect.”
Jane Taylor and Scott Malcolm, Clients – MacMasters Beach
“We commissioned Dianna to design our new house on the banks of the Lachlan River near Forbes some three years ago. We specified a few requirements including concrete slab floor, underfloor heating, galvanised iron roof, nine-foot ceilings, as well as suggesting that we liked Western Australian Limestone in combination with internal brick walls and that the layout of our previous farmhouse with a small modification suited us. Dianna came up with a 'sketch' design that we were very happy to run with. During the detail design and the construction stages Dianna was very accessible and consultative, always happy to consider our suggestions and if appropriate include them in her design. She developed a very cooperative approach with our builder and was very prompt in sorting out the very few problems that occurred. The difficulty of distance of our remote location was not a problem as her plans and specifications were very precise enabling us to monitor the construction on her behalf with a minimum of site visits. We are thrilled with the finished product. The whole building process was a very pleasant experience for us based on a wonderful design. We would be happy to discuss our project with Diannaʼs prospective clients.”
John & Barbara Bruce, Clients – Forbes NSW
“I, Glenn Cochran of Cochran Constructions have had the pleasure of building several projectsʼ for Dianna Thomas over the last seven years. Over the past ten years I have been fortunate to be engaged by many award winning architects including Stutchbury & Pape, Nick Murcutt, Craig Rosevear, Tonkin & Zuilakhia. I feel experienced enough to comment on not only architecture but the performance of an architect throughout the construction phase. Personally I would prefer to work with Dianna over any other architect as she has qualities Iʼve found others lacking in. Dianna has an approach with myself and all onsite trades that gives everyone a sense of being a united team working towards an outcome that everyone is proud of. Her enthusiasm is contagious and Iʼd recommend Dianna highly to any prospective client.”
Glenn Cochran, Cochran Constructions
“We have been working with Dianna Thomas Architect since 2006. Dianna is an absolute pleasure to deal with. Her professionalism, dedication and knowledge within the industry is exceptional. We would have no hesitation in recommending Dianna Thomas Architect to anyone that is in need of someone who really listens and understands the clientʼs and builders needs alike.”
Haidee Hines, Carpentry Construction
“Since 2005 I have built several alterations and additions projects and a new house with Dianna. I enjoy building her designs and working with her. She is good at communicating her ideas and expectations as well as taking into consideration the builderʼs point of view. She appears to have solid relationships with her clients and manages their expectations very well in regard to the project cost and timeframe for construction. I can confidently recommend Dianna Thomas Architect to any prospective client or builder.”
Robert Calabria, Builder
“Despite the constraints of a limited budget Dianna Thomas Architect produced a creative design to meet our young family's needs. Dianna custom designed a prefab addition and transformed our crumbling fibro beach house into a light filled and spacious family home. Dianna is both enthusiastic and highly professional in her approach to work and problem solving. We found her a delight to work with, as did our builder, and we cannot recommend her highly enough.”
Cherie Castaing and Bryce Aitchison – Clients, MacMasters Beach
“We decided to approach Dianna Thomas to design a renovation of our 1970's rental property, prior to our retirement, after seeing the changes she had wrought with a neighbour's property. From the first discussions we were impressed with Dianna's pleasant and open manner, and the scope and practicality of her ideas. Now, 12 months after the completion of the renovation, we can only say we are delighted with the result; a dark and pokey house has been transformed into a spacious comfortable dwelling. Dianna was a pleasure to work with, always coming up with novel ways to maximise space and to transform the house into the light and airy home it now is; and always with our budget in mind. Dianna had an excellent working relationship with the builder which meant we were freed of the finer details of the execution of the project. The final aspect of the project – a roof over a large south-facing deck was the source of much discussion and computer modelling to ensure the maximum shade in the summer and sun in the winter. The result is brilliant and draws positive comments from all who visit.”
Brigitte Ellis – Client, Killcare Heights
“We engaged Dianna Thomas architects to assist with the refit of our new office in Paddington, Sydney. It was a difficult brief in that the space was bland, the landlords conditions were onerous and our budget was minimal, to say the least. Dianna helped us determine our requirements, provided for our future growth and success as well as creating a bright open space, that has promoted collaboration, impressed partners and clients and provided a pragmatic and attractive workplace that has not dated in the four years we have been here. The way that she redesigned the space really works, giving us a wide open boardroom, the Red Room for private meetings and the fabulous and unique slot windowed server room to showcase our technology. The process to deliver this was professional and easy to engage in and really hit the nail on the head. The office is fantastic. We were saved from ourselves in some places, saved on funds in others and ended up with an office even better than we had hoped.”
Sean Murphy, Principal, Nexus – Client, Paddington
“Dianna recently designed a new beach house for us. From the time she arrived at the site with her compass and note-pad for our first meeting we were on the same wavelength. We are very pleased with the house and it attracts a lot of favourable comment. Particularly, we liked the way she was happy to work with our ideas, and turn them into a polished design. In our case, Dianna did the design work and oversaw approvals up to the stage of the issuing of the construction certificate, and was then available for consultation as required, which we found to be an efficient and cost effective arrangement. We have recommended her to several of our friends, and have no hesitation recommending her to others.”
Ian Woodforth – Client, Patonga
“I have been very happy with the personal attention that Dianna has given me during the course of our drawn out project for a new driveway and garage. She created an excellent design for a garage which is appealing and blends well with the existing house. Dianna has accommodated my various requests quickly while managing local contractors and looking after the realities of topography and Council requirements. This has been particularly useful as I work overseas and am often absent from the property for long periods.”
David Ramsay, Client – Copacabana
Our Yattalunga project was featured in the Domain section of the Sydney Morning Herald in January 2011.
If you would like to read the article a PDF version is available for download here.