About Us
Sam Martin, Designer & Owner
Sam Martin was raised in South Fremantle in a household of professional visual artists/painters, Jane Martin & George Haynes. This aesthetics- and ideas-rich house attracted most of Western Australia’s artistic elite at some point or another. George and Jane’s studios were out the back, and a constant traffic of ideas, artists & architects flowed through the house. Sam’s biological father Caesar, a German boiler maker turned woodsman/furniture maker in the South West, was an ever-present and balanced influence of lateral thinking and resourceful, environmentally-conscious, highly-creative thinking.
After completing a 1yr carpentry & joinery pre-app at TAFE in 1991, Sam spent over 10 years in the areas of Carpentry & Joinery, Stone Masonry & Timber Furniture making. During this period, he also gained valuable experience working in the hospitality industry, an experience that now informs his public-use building design.
Having completed a Traineeship as an Architectural Draftsman in 2003, he graduated with a Diploma of Building Design + Architectural Drafting, from Central TAFE in Leederville, Western Australia 2004.
Sam’s 14 year experience in Building Design & drafting, and 11 years of structural engineering drafting under the renowned North Fremantle Structural engineer Steve Burdett, has given him a huge mental catalogue of the most practical, locally-used structural and construction systems for every situation.
This ensures that our beautiful & highly creative buildings can be designed to be structurally simple, rational and easily built – allowing builders to give a very competitive price to construct them.
Sam's combination of practical construction and design experience has given him a completely unique perspective on the building design process. Unlike a traditionally-trained architect or building designer, Sam has been able to blend practical experience with a philosophical perspective on the construction and use of beautiful public and private spaces. His passion for beautiful, contemporary living spaces and a deep desire to improve the design and functional aesthetics of the space we inhabit has informed his work for almost two decades.
He is the Principal Building Designer at ‘Sam Martin Building Design’ which was founded in 2005, and has accumulated years of experience in the practical construction, design and documentation of residential, commercial & industrial buildings.
He is also known to enjoy the occasional hot cup of tea and a biscuit.
Our Team
We keep fees reasonable by having low overheads and the ability to expand and contract readily, as required.
The core of what we do in-house is:
• Building design and architectural presentation drawings.
• Architectural drafting/plan preparation, detailing and specifications.
• All council planning approval and building permit applications .
We organise sub-consultants to provide all the professional services that your particular project requires. Each projects’ design team consists of some of the most thorough, experienced, efficient design professionals and consultants available, including:
• Licenced Land surveyors (including feature surveys, boundary re-pegs & sub-divisions)
• Architectural draftspeople (building plans & specification preparation)
• Structural engineers (structural engineering plans & details prepared and certified)
• Landscape designers (if required)
• Energy efficiency certifier
• Building codes certifier (Level 1 building surveyor for certified building permit applications)
• Mechanical, electrical and hydraulic engineers (if required for multi-res and mixed use)
Buildings have a complicated council approval and certification process these days, with various overlays of complexity. That’s why we endeavour to sort it out for you at every stage, until it is all approved by council and the builder is ready to start construction.