Abode Design

I've only used Brendan for some procedural stuff in connection with a house sale (survey and revised maps for Land Reg purposes) but his services were faultless and fairly priced. In addition to that, he was an absolute gentleman and I look forward to the opportunity to work with him again.

We completed an extension and renovation project in Clontarf with Brendan as our architect during 2018. Brendan expertly designed a contemporary extension to the rear and redesigned the existing downstairs layout. The house has turned out to all we asked for and more. Brendan has expert knowledge in the area of energy efficiency and we received an A rating on our house. Brendan managed builder relationships well, was calm throughout the project and was very quick in his responses to both us and the builder. This meant the project ran relatively smoothly, caused us minimum stress and was completed within the deadline. We also had the added complication of needing our house to be wheelchair accessible and to have a downstairs bedroom and bathroom. Brendan's knowledge in this area was excellent and he got it absolutely right. Brendan's design has allowed our daughter to live independently while suiting the whole family and not looking functional. Brendan created a dream home for us and I would thoroughly recommend him.

Brendan lead our project to add a large low energy/passive extension to a protected structure including landscaping - overall we’re delighted with our ultra-cosy new living space that overlooks our beautiful new garden

Our house is the one entitled Family Home, Blackrock, in Brendan's photos. We traded down to this house in 2013 and with Brendan's advice carried out a major refurbishment and upgrading that involved striping it down to the structural walls, and replacing everything, heating, electrics, plumbing, the lot, and adding loads of insulation, new windows, bathrooms, kitchen, solar, ventilation, fitted units etc. Firstly, Brendan came up with internal rearrangements and designs that very materially improved our ideas for renovations/extensions etc. and then prepared the most comprehensive plans and specifications for the works. The supervision of the works was similarly detailed and intense with Brendan producing meticulous minutes of the weekly site meetings. The builder took a major wobbly after about 5 months on site but that was not Brendan's fault and he capably made other completion arrangements. We do have some property background, due to age and profession, and we would have no hesitation in engaging Brendan again for a similar project. Knowledge, ideas, innovation, standard of advice, insistence when necessary, tolerance of client input, adaptability when inevitable - all present. End result - happy clients. The project was not cheap but the budget was well controlled and luckily we were able to afford it. 5 years on there is very little we would do differently.

We found Brendan great to work with. This was our first renovation / build project. A number of design features Brendan incorporated have become our favourite features of our new home. It was great having him involved throughout the entire process and we'd recommend him, for sure.

Brendan is a genuine and talented architect. Brendan designed and managed the design team for our new home build. Brendan (also a passive haus designer) used passive haus principles to get the house as energy efficient as possible. I am pleased to say the efficiency of our house has exceeded our expectations. Brendan is responsive and conscientious and we are thrilled with how the house works for our family requirements.

Brendan oversaw the construction of our new family home. His knowledge and advice were invaluable in guiding us through the construction project. He was a skilled advocate for our interests with contractors and suppliers through out the build, ensuring a high-quality finish. Thanks to Brendan's diligence, effective project management and concern for his clients, we finished the project under-budget and on time.

We have known Brendan for many years and had no hesitation in contacting him when both myself and my husband decided to renovate my family home. Ours was a project which needed to accommodate both our family of 3 young boys and my mother. Brendan took us carefully through the whole process and came up with great ideas to allow each generation of our family to have their own space but also to enjoy family space together. It is always difficult to accommodate every ones wishes, however Brendan delivered and we have been very happy as a family unit living in our newly renovated home. We are proud of our home and this is all thanks to Brendan. We would recommend Brendan to anyone who wished to undertake a building project and have done so already.

Five years after completion, we are still very pleased with Brendan's work on a major refurbishment of our 1930s-built home. As is clear from our rating, we have no hesitation in recommending him as architect/designer/project supervisor. As with any such work, one still has to do one's own due diligence at each phase of the project - particularly during the design/specification phase, in addition to construction. Other professionals we employed for this project volunteered that they had very rarely seen such detailed drawings/specifications. Inevitably, there are a few things we would have done slightly differently, but very few.