Studio

Intentionally boutique

We are big believers in the power of small. Having spent many years in larger offices with 20-30 active projects, we see great value to you (and us) in intentionally limiting our active projects.

Our boutique size allows us to be nimble, focused and move at pace while ensuring your project is not lost amongst two dozen others. Your home will have the focus and attention of our principal David Langley who will always have his hands on the wheel of your new home.

Design philosophy

We believe that an elegant home is one of quiet luxury. We prefer a composition of natural materials blended with the landscape to craft homes of refuge and sanctuary. Never flashy and with a distinct lack of bling-bling your home will be a place to hurry back to.

We believe a timeless and robust home is a sustainable home. Sustainable because it is composed and crafted to last generations not the length of an Instagram reel.

Our fee

Typically, an architect’s fee is a percentage of construction cost, we believe this is a fundamentally bad client experience. In response, we have chosen to disconnect our fee from the construction cost.

Your fee will be unique to you, your home and your brief. We take the time to understand what you need and how we can help before offering you a fee. Our fee is fixed at the time of our agreement. Unless you make changes to the scope, our fee will start fixed and end fixed regardless of the construction cost. Never will the escalation in steel prices or a bricklayer’s hourly rate increase our fee.

How we speak

We have a strict policy of NO artsy-fartsy goat cheese pizza archi-babble rubbish.

We believe in the clarity of transparent and honest conversations and will never use a metaphor to describe our selection of light fittings. If you have seen some first class archi-waffle please share [here] so we can have a laugh!

We want to thank David and the Alter Office team for the passion, commitment and professionalism they showed bringing our home to life.

We found our investment of time, effort and money was more than justified by the beautiful design outcome and inclusive process.

We have had no hesitation to recommend Alter Office in the past and will continue to do so in the future.

K&S in Hamilton

David Langley

Practice owner

David Langley founded Alter Office in 2019, bringing his design expertise to some of Brisbane’s premier blue-chip suburbs and the Sunshine Coast. Embracing the mantra of elegance without arrogance, David believes in the power of a project team dedicated to delivering your dream home above all else. He understands that taking the project seriously, but not oneself, can transform a potentially stressful undertaking into an enjoyable journey.

With nearly two decades of experience, David has crafted over 30 beautiful homes for clients spanning from Cairns to Sydney, contributing to the success of renowned architectural practices. During his tenure as a senior project architect at Shaun Lockyer Architects, he led the design and documentation of some of the practice’s most intricate homes, including Dilkera, Glenrae, and Oxlade.

In his role at SLa, David was responsible for translating hand-drawn concepts into expressive 3D forms, selecting and composing exterior and interior materials, designing and documenting cabinetry, coordinating essential consultants, documenting designs for construction, and integrating landscape architect concepts. His collaborative approach extended to working closely with builders and clients to ensure the realisation of the intended design.

David takes pride in building lasting friendships with the entire project team, a sentiment reflected in Alter Office’s list of return and referred clients. Whether discussing your project, navigating the challenges of raising teenagers, or sharing thoughts on the Broncos’ premiership prospects, David is always eager for a chat.

A Few Things On My Desk

The entire reason for starting Alter Office is to give my family the best chance in life and show his 3 daughters that dedication, bravery and belief can build great things.

Any “spare” time will find me attempting to improve my golf game or yelling at a TV to ensure victory for any team with Brisbane, Queensland or Australia in their name.

Yes I can actually solve this, my current best time is 1:08.

A daily reminder that you need to balance embracing Zen no matter your role.

I do love maintaining connection to landscape, even inside. Current score is 3 alive vs. 2 dead.

Because I am not into Gucci man bags and can’t yet afford to collect Aston Martins, so at this point buying shoes float my boat.

Project Locations

My role as your architect is to improve the quality of your life. I strive for you to not only feel proud of your home when gathering, but to relish in your day-to-day life. I believe your home can’t be one big architectural concept, it’s a thousand small decisions we make together to craft a sanctuary so perfect you have to force your guests to leave.

David Langley