Connecting regional people with low-carbon homes, and fulfilling lives within them.
Cooee is a uniquely regional Australian word.
It originated from Aboriginal language(s), was adopted by European settlers, and is used widely today to call out to someone in a remote setting. I'm calling out to regional Australians to join me in working towards zero-carbon regional homes and building great lives within them.
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Fulfilling Regional Lives
I help you build a fulfilling regional life - whether that means living ethically, waking up inspired, or being better connected to country and community.
If you’re a sustainably and ethically minded regional Australian, Cooee intends to offer something for everyone, from free resources to full services.
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18 Intentions
Good design is measurable.
We start with 18 clear intentions, tweak them to suit your values and priorities, site and budget, and then review them at each project stage.
My goal is to deliver a solution that is sustainable, intelligent, and simple.
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Zero Carbon
Operational: Your project can run at net-zero energy by first reducing power needs through energy-efficient design and construction, and then self-generating power through renewable methods.
Embodied: You can work towards a net-zero embodied carbon footprint by reducing materials, sourcing low-carbon and recycled materials, and then offsetting the remainder.
2020 National Emerging Architect Prize Winner
“Be the change" is a short film I was invited to write and narrate as the winner of the 2020 National Emerging Architect Prize.
It explains my origins, interests and work, prior to launching Cooee Architecture.
Service Region
You're not too remote for me. Projects 'within cooee' of my two operating locations (in yellow below) incur no extra travel fees, including Wagga Wagga, Gundagai, Tumut, Thredbo/Jindabyne, Cooma, Tallangatta, Albury-Wodonga, as well as in our bush-capital, Canberra. We also know this country as Ngarigo, Jaitmatang, Ngunnawal and Wiradjuri land.
Further afield, in the pink zone, site visits are at a flat rate of $450/visit, and we'll discuss ways to minimise these.
Beyond that? I'm still happy to chat.
As seen in:
“Sarah not only possesses exceptional creativity, industry knowledge, and environmental focus but also possesses the unique ability to transform dreams into tangible realities, making her work truly visionary and impactful. We thank you, Sarah, for putting so much into what you do in a positive and inspiring way.”
— Clients, Amber and Nick (The Silos Accommodation)
“We can live comfortably knowing we have a solid, efficient, beautiful home. It’s also encouraged us to share our experience with friends and family, and hopefully, encouraged them to engage with an architect if they ever went through a process like this. It really gives you bang for your buck!”
— Clients, Jacob and Jade
“As a builder, I find that Sarah is a pleasure to work with. She understands the needs of both the builder and the client, making for a smooth building process and a good final result. Her detailed and well-thought-through designs allow me to run jobs from start to finish with little to no cost variations. Past clients often remark about how much they enjoy living in their new homes and how little heating and cooling they require to maintain a comfortable temperature.”
— Builder, Luke Dickerson, Bespoke Building Services
(Worked with Sarah on numerous projects during her time at Light House Architecture and Science)
“Sarah has been fantastic to work with. She has excellent architectural expertise, complemented by a wealth of knowledge on sustainable building practices. She is open and easy to communicate with, and I learnt a lot from Sarah during our design process - no question is a dumb question (and I have a lot of them), which I truly appreciated. As part of our process, we engaged a builder early on, making for an excellent team. Sarah is also really practical which i loved, she considered what was fit for purpose for our project. I also really appreciated the values that she works toward, but where it wasn't possible for us to achieve those things, it was a non-issue.
I would highly, highly recommend working with Sarah!”
— Clients, Morgan and Duncan
“360 Building Solutions has been working with Sarah for over 6 years now*. Sarah is professional, thorough, and easy to work with. Another great benefit of using an Architect is that the builder can focus more on what we love to do, which is the building part. Many decisions have already been made, leaving fewer questions that need to be answered in the construction phase.”
— Builder, Dean Struys, 360 Building Solutions
(*Both during her time at Light House Architecture and Science and Cooee Architecture)
“We moved into our new home (designed by Sarah*) in December 2021 and marvel at it daily. It is so calm, functional, comfortable, and beautiful. Every view, every angle, and every feature is purposeful and glorious! Sarah was wonderful to work with. She was patient with our indecisiveness and guided us with great skill and vision. Elated with the final product!!”
— Client, Emily Walter
(*Sarah was the lead designer of this project while working at Light House Architecture and Science)
