Residential Architecture for Private Homes
Whether the brief is a new build or a full home renovation, our approach as a residential home architect begins with restraint, a discipline of proportion, material and light that resists the pull of trend, decoration, or excess.
Designing Your Home, From Site to Structure
Every home begins with what's already there: the fall of the land, the path of the sun, the outlook worth keeping and the one worth screening out.
Site context and orientation inform every line drawn from that point forward, shaping bespoke floor plans long before a single finish is chosen.
From the first line drawn to the final fixture set, materiality and light are treated as instruments, shaping how a home is felt as much as how it is seen.
Concrete, stone and timber are drawn into quiet conversation with one another, each chosen for how it ages, holds light, and will feel a decade from now.
This is custom home design in its truest sense: more than a catalogue of options, it’s a deliberate response to a single site and a single family.
What Does a Residential Architect Actually Do?
A residential architect designs the built form of a home, the floor plan, the spatial arrangement, the structure and its relationship to site, before any interior finishes are considered. At Henderson & Co., this spans the initial briefing workshop through to construction documentation.
For a renovation, we assess what a home already does well and what it doesn't before proposing changes. For a new build, we start from an empty site and ask what should be built there.
Our Approach to Home Design and Architecture
Every project begins with a considered conversation. We listen carefully, workshop ideas, and define your vision, clarifying objectives, constraints, budget and ambition. This foundation ensures the design is purposeful from the outset.
This is where creative direction takes shape. We explore spatial potential, develop design narratives and test ideas through drawings and visual studies. The concept phase sets the tone, rhythm and character of your project.
We refine the chosen concept into a clear spatial plan and prepare documentation for development approvals (DA, CDC or equivalent). The focus is on alignment, with both your goals and the regulatory framework.
Here, ideas become tangible. Materials, details, joinery and systems are developed and coordinated across disciplines. We resolve the design technically and aesthetically, elevating it without compromise.
We prepare detailed documentation for tender, ensuring accurate pricing and clear scope for prospective builders. Our goal is to attract the right delivery partner, one aligned with the quality and complexity of your project.
We produce a fully coordinated construction package, including all technical drawings and specifications. Every element is documented to support precision on site and fidelity to the design intent.
We stay involved throughout the build, reviewing shop drawings, responding to contractor queries, and making regular site visits. Our presence ensures the design is realised to standard, and decisions are made with confidence.
The final layer. We curate furniture, lighting and objects to harmonise with the architecture, refining spatial feel, function and identity. It’s where the vision becomes fully lived-in, and fully yours.
SEE OUR WORK
Light and reflection were treated as part of the architecture itself, not layered on as an afterthought.
This is architecture built for permanence rather than impression: unhurried and deliberate, designed to be lived in long after the first impression fades.
It is the model we bring to every private home, from a modest home renovation architect brief to a considered new build.
Led by Experience
Henderson & Co. is led by Angus Henderson, whose more than two decades of experience in interior architecture and architectural design spans luxury homes, multi-residential developments and award-winning work delivered across Australia and internationally.
Since establishing the studio in 2017, Henderson & Co. has delivered more than 110 projects across nine sectors, backed by a multi-award-winning practice and a senior team bringing 15+ years of local and international experience to every project, whether the brief is a single residence or a multi-residential development.
Australian Good Design Award
FIT Summit Awards of Excellence — Boutique of the Year
UDIA NSW Awards — Concept Design
Australian Good Design Award
UDIA NSW Awards — Marketing Apartment Communities
Red Dot Award
Australian International Design Award
German Design Award
Henderson & Co. is led by Angus Henderson, whose more than two decades of experience in interior architecture and architectural design spans luxury homes, multi-residential developments and award-winning work delivered across Australia and internationally.Since establishing the studio in 2017, Henderson & Co. has delivered more than 110 projects across nine sectors, backed by a multi-award-winning practice and a senior team bringing 15+ years of local and international experience to every project, whether the brief is a single residence or a multi-residential development.
Why Choose Henderson & Co. For Your Home
With more than two decades of design experience and a multi-award-winning practice, we give every project the full attention of our studio, from first sketch to final styling.
For projects beyond a single home, our team also designs multi-unit residences for property developers, including our penthouse and multi-residential work, built on the same architecture-first approach.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Cost depends on scope, site conditions and the level of bespoke design and materiality involved. Henderson & Co. clarifies budget parameters during the initial consultation and briefing workshop, so cost expectations are set before concept design begins.
Most substantial renovations and all new home builds in NSW require either development approval (DA) or a complying development certificate (CDC), depending on scope, zoning and any heritage overlay.
A development application (DA) is assessed by council against local planning controls and typically suits more complex or non-compliant projects, while a complying development certificate (CDC) is a faster pathway for straightforward work that meets set standards outright. Henderson & Co. advises on which pathway applies as part of the DA approval process for each project.
A first briefing conversation should cover your budget, how you use the home day-to-day, what's not working in the current layout and any non-negotiables for the finished result. For projects we take on, Henderson & Co.'s initial consultation and briefing workshop is built around drawing this out before any design work begins.
Timelines vary with scope and approval pathway, but most private homes move through initial consultation, concept design, schematic design and DA or CDC approval, design development, and construction documentation before a builder is engaged. Renovations without significant structural change typically move faster than a new build requiring full development approval.
Yes. Henderson & Co. works as a new-home architect on ground-up builds and as a home-renovation architect on existing houses, applying the same site-first, architecture-led approach to both.
Henderson & Co. is based in Potts Point, Sydney, and designs private homes across Sydney, Brisbane, the Gold Coast and Dubai.
