Inbetween Architecture

We migrated to Australia fifteen years ago. The idea of home is complex for first generation migrants who try very hard to find comfort and familiarity in their adopted country. For us building our new house with John and Steph was a journey of discovering and consolidating our identity as migrants and individuals who have come to love this country as much as our country of birth, India. We have enjoyed this journey every step of the way. John and Steph’s process of detailed consultations, understanding their client’s needs and personalities, has paid off very well in our build. The house integrates our past and present harmoniously. Their honesty and authenticity reflects in their work ethic. Despite the pandemic throwing significant challenges across our professional life and the build ,we felt our vision was secure in their hands. Their clever and simple design has helped us truly express and celebrate our blended cultural identity. Being in health care has never been more complex and challenging than it has been in the last two years .Our new house has proven to be a place for respite and joy that we look forward to coming back to every day. There is a constructive relationship with elements of nature ,there is serenity and enough room to hide and display things. I remember a quote from Fountainhead ,one of the first few books that had impressed me as a young adult. “A house can have integrity, just like a person.” We wanted a house that was true to its purpose, was simple, yet had character and we are grateful to Inbetween architecture for building a house that truly reflects that. Krati & Sachin

John took considerable time and effort to understand what our requirements were and what was important for our family. This was a pleasant change from other architects who basically had an idea and wanted to impose that on us. John's design ethos, concentrating on simple light filled spaces creating the home as a sanctuary really struck a chord with us. The design provided us exactly that and is functionally exactly what we wanted. Our home is now just a "lovely place to live in", as simple as that. It is a feeling, more so than just a list of well designed elements. John and Steph project managed the build process to ensure the quality of build and integrity of the design was maintained at all times. This was an important service for us being novices in the renovation process. John and Steph are a pleasure to work with

John and Steph came up with an innovative design to shade our problematic west facing deck. The process that John and Steph implemented to understand our needs and then to conceive a design that both enhanced and was sympathetic to the existing structure was architecture at its best. The design process was actually exciting and the bold innovative design exceeded our expectations. John’s associates that contributed shade analysis, engineering and construction services were also very professional, easy to work with and practical. We have no hesitation in recommending the Inbetween Architecture team.

John Liu and Steph Richardson of Inbetween Architecture have delivered us a truly remarkable and beautiful home. From the outset they took time and listened to what makes our family of three tick, our backgrounds, our interests and what we wanted from a home. We already knew we liked Inbetween’s work. It is understated, yet so clever in form, proportion and use of space. That topped with a creativity we could never dream of is what has made our house a wonderful place to be. With any building project there are challenges and ours came with a few. John and Steph navigated through the tricky planning, heritage overlay requirements of the existing dwelling and meticulously resolved any technical challenges that came with the new design. All dealt with before building commenced. Their choice of a quality builder with architect pedigree, attention to detail and a high level of organizational skills, resulted in a build with exceptional quality across all trade sets. All driven by a schedule that started on time and finished on time. We’ve been back in our home for 3 months and we all still marvel at the beauty of it and feel overwhelmed by the functionality of the design. It’s like we’re on a dreamy holiday. I hope I don’t wake up and find it’s not real. It has been a privilege to have John and Steph of Inbetween Architecture take us on this journey.

Both Stephanie and John provided excellent service in architectural advice and design. They were pleasant and listened to what we desired, were pragmatic and constructive and creative in their response and demonstrated "thinking outside the box" as well as a good understanding of council process. They provided excellent models of the project and also ensured that our expectations were realistic. Always prompt and accessible, they were easy to contact either by email or phone. Their service represented excellent value for money and they came in with a strong recommendation from a close friend.

John has great design flair. He listened sensitively and was open to what we wanted. He designed solutions which built on our ideas and enhanced them, and gently dissuaded us from decisions we might later regret. John and Stephanie are very professional, knowledgeable and pleasant to deal with, and we look forward to seeing the end product.

It was a great pleasure to work with Steph and John on this project. They were well organised and clear communicators from the beginning through to completion. Thanks to their capability and skill in both the creative architecture and the practical skill of seeing the project through to completion, the project reached its full potential. We were able to develop an effective working (builder-architect) relationship which made the process collaborative and enjoyable. The client is very happy and the results speak for themselves (see the photos). We look forward to working with Inbetween again very soon.

Steph and John designed and project managed a major renovation of a 1960s built apartment which last had a face lift in the 1980s. They were thorough at every stage ,planning, contracting to trades people, dealing with the planning authority and body corporate.When the inevitable problems surfaced they were excellent in their communication with us and all relevant parties.We were very hands off once the design plans were finalised , we just left them to it and were very pleased with the result.The whole project was painless and it came in on budget, thank you Steph and John

It is such a pleasure to review John Liu and Stephanie Richardson at Inbetween. Working with them has made what was a stressful, high-anxiety experience of renovating our house into an exciting, easy and pleasurable journey. There are several impressive things about the way they work, but in terms of the process itself, what we were most struck by (in comparison to other firms we had approached) was their attention from the start to understanding who we are, how we live now and how we are likely to live into the future as our family grows up. This has allowed them to design a house that is truly for US and as the build has taken place we can see this vision emerging, piece by piece. While from a pragmatic point of view the best thing about Inbetween is their creative intelligence and design nouse (because you get a great result), the confidence we have been able to have in their advice and integrity has been priceless. This has made the process not just incredibly smooth, but actually FUN (which was most unexpected)! It's without hesitation that I highly recommend John and Steph at Inbetween.

I recently worked with John on the Ruffey Lake House shoot. I was really impressed with how ethically and fairly he treated everyone involved, how well organised he was - (there were many people and aspects to co-ordinate for the day), how calm and professional he was, the wonderful styling he'd organised and of course, what a stunning house he designed. There was beautiful light streaming into every part of the house - even the very centre! I very much look forward to working with John again in the future, he made my job incredibly enjoyable and easy.

It was an absolute pleasure to work with John on this project. He was well organised, clear with the brief and went over and above to have the project looking great for photography. I look forward to working with him on future projects and highly recommend his practice to potential clients!!

We love a call from John and always jump at the chance to work on his projects. He knows how to create magical spaces, shapes and details within the architectural context. I find his work both brave and comforting. Projects we have seen flow beautifully with clever layouts, materials and detailing that transform homes into something truly special. He expertise, dedication and happy clients are evident in the outcomes he achieves. We find working with John most enjoyable as he is an all-round good guy. We hope to have him design our home one day.