Our Process

Ten years later Martyn’s light well extension resolved our need for an additional bathroom on the first floor without compromising any existing floor space.

We first met Martyn at one of his project displays in about 2002. We watched Martyn build a terrace extension across the road and decided to discuss with him the options for extending our Surry Hills terrace. In 2003, Martyn designed and built our attic and ensuite while I was pregnant with our daughter. As expected, the quality of the design and the workmanship was exceptional, and the project was delivered on time (about 4 weeks before my daughter was born!) and within budget. We were particularly impressed with the minimal disturbance procedures Martyn used, which made the experience as hassle-free as possible.

Louise Fleck, Surry Hills

Innovative Design Ideas, incorporating future overall design and high quality terrace renovation.

Martyn Calleia of Special Terrace House has just completed our attic conversion and first floor renovation on our terrace house in Glebe. Due to the original layout, it was a little difficult to conceptualise how to get staircase access to the attic room, create a bathroom on the first floor, and maintain a good flow to the bedrooms and of the corridor. We had several builders in, but Martyn stood out with his innovative design ideas, but maintaining the traditional terrace appearance. His experience with terrace renovations was clearly evident.

Mohan and Janet Jayasundera

Ground Floor addition - Job well done, professionally managed, on time and of excellent quality.

Dear Martyn, I just wanted to drop you a note of thanks for the completion of our ground floor addition at Nickson Street for a job well done, professionally managed, on time and of excellent quality. After our inspection of your previous renovations, the quality of the build was obvious and then your design and positioning of the kitchen, laundry and toilet which allowed us great open access to the rear yard was much better than the other company who had put in a proposal. Thanks again Martyn, we would have no hesitation in recommending Special Terrace House to other potential clients in the area!

Jim and Sue, Nickson Street Surry Hills

External access and understated plus and Quality and Detail of the match existing staircase a key visual stand out.

I chose Martyn from Special Terrace House after viewing a number of his attic conversions over the years and always admiring the quality of the build. Martyn converted my attic as an additional living area with front and rear dormers plus a small ensuite on my reference # 9 model terrace house. One of the key benefits of choosing Martyn is his vast experience in terrace renovations. This allows him to provide good advice on how to best utilise any space, cost implications of choices and also what council will allow.

Margo Chesher, Darlington

Rear First floor Extension-attention to detail, excellent craftsmanship, pride in work and great problem solving skills.

We engaged the services of Martyn Calleia of Special Terrace House to assist in the design, approval and construction of a rear first floor addition to our terrace house in Waverly street Randwick. We were initially impressed with Martyn’s pragmatic approach to the renovation. Not knowing what could be achieved within Council’s parameters and our budget, Martyn was able to suggest various options for the construction and provide detailed cost estimates and timing for each option. Martyn’s suggested options were all consistent with our needs and expectations.

David and Naomi Anderson

Top Quality, re tweaked design, tenants could remain in occupation.

I highly recommend Martyn Calleia for any building work but in particular terrace house renovations. We had our attic room added to the top of our Tudor street terrace house which is now finished is perfect in workmanship and detail. We are absentee owners living 600km away so before finding Martyn I thought I could get started with a construction certificate from Sydney City Council then just find a builder; how easy is this I thought. After months of trying to deal with Council and getting nowhere I came across Martyn’s billboard hanging outside a terrace.

Charlie Mackinnon, Tudor Street Surry Hills

Hassel Free Attic Conversion Proceeds Fantastic Ground Floor Addition.

Dear Martyn, my wife and I would like to thank you for the completion of another job superbly done. Last year when we engaged you to convert our attic we couldn’t believe that we found a builder who could take our concept and then provide some very good design ideas, draw up the plans, negotiate with council for all the required approvals and complete the job on time and to budget. The quality of the work was exceptional and the whole attic conversion was as close as you could get to a hassle free renovation. Consequently we had no reservations whatsoever to ask you back this year to complete the rest of our renovation work.

Bruce and Jacky Gendre, Wilson street Darlington

With Martyn you need not retain an architect.”- When friends visit they say “it looks as though it’s always been there.

From the start, Martyn and his team were enormously helpful in dealing with Woollahra council and arranging for the DA of our attic extension with ensuite to proceed painlessly. We had specific needs that any addition had to match the heritage feeling of our 1880’s Paddington terrace and Martyn’s design met all our expectations and more. With Martyn you need not retain an architect. Martyn designed and built a cutting edge ensuite bathroom with exceptional design flair. As the project developed we had input and collectively decided to leave the chimney sand stock bricks exposed which is a wonderful feature.

Keith and Gale, Paddington

Creating a plan we were very happy with and handling all of the approvals with council. “Martyns’ team left nothing unfinished.”

Special Terrace House (and Martyn) was recommended to us by a neighbour. We’d been having some difficulties with a builder, and had been attempting to get the drawings for a new attic done by an architect that didn’t specialise in terraces. We feel very lucky to have brought Martyn onto the project. With his Knowledge of terrace houses he was able to see some faults in our current plan (which would have meant our project would not have passed council approval) and left us with a room not legal as a bedroom.

David Toussaint, Paddington

The internal stair layout was slightly varied and necessary space for the bed was achieved by structurally altering the chimney breast internally.

Martyn of Special Terrace House was engaged to construct our attic conversion in Surry Hills. Our plans were already approved however the small terrace and the existing approved layout meant we could barely squeeze a bed up there and the layout was tolerable but impractical. From the beginning of our contact with Martyn he was very pragmatically minded and pointed out to us some practical improvements to the layout that would help to maximise functional space.

Dr Philippa Ell, Little Albion Street Surry Hills

Everyone is impressed

Thanks for everything you have done. The end result is fantastic. We have only had a few visitors but everyone is impressed. Our handyman (an English carpenter) reckons the staircase is the nicest he has seen. Gilliane has only 1 word “Beautiful”. I wake up every morning and wonder where I am. Can’t believe I am in the same house. Thank you and Shaun. Incidentally the stairs have been good for me and I am now almost pain free. Bloody amazing . Lots of lessons from a great job. Thanks again.

Leon and Family, Brougham Street Potts Point

Painless Attic Conversion proceeds Quality Ground Floor addition.

Dear Martyn,

Thankyou for making our two room Attic Conversion so painless, and it is so wonderful to be able to park the car in the garage.

Best wishes for the future.

The Roberts Family ~ Dave, Lorraine, Jasper & Samantha

Another Great Job – Open Plan Ground floor addition.

Thankyou Martyn for another great Job! The ground floor addition now makes a great connection to the rear yard and new Deck. The Kitchen, Laundry and relocated toilet are tucked neatly away and we’re really impressed once again with the quality of the build. I’m sure where – ever we move to will need the Martyn touch.

Best wishes to you and your family,

Lorraine & Dave Roberts, Redfern

Martyn has Delivered a Seamless Renovation.

Martyn Calleia from Special Terrace House was referred to us by our friend Scott who he designed and built terrace additions for twice in Surry Hills. After quoting on our project and walking through a completed example of a similar project we were confident that Special Terrace House and Martyn was the right builder for our terrace extensions. Throughout the project Martyn consistently communicated with us, listened to what we wanted and was very focussed on attention to detail and quality well beyond our expectations which shines through in the finished product.

Steven and Hans, Darlinghurst

Martyn is a proven professional in terrace houses.

We recently completed another successful project using Martyn Calleia from Special Terrace House. We transformed an original run down inner city terrace which not only was dilapidated, but also presented some major challenges in terms of an outdated floor plan and plumbing and electrical infrastructure. Having previously used Special Terrace House on the attic conversion, he was a natural fit for the job. Martyn designed a major reconfiguration of the bathroom and kitchen / living areas including services, and opening of walls.

Kate and Garry, Nickson Street Surry Hills

Two years later we had no hesitation in engaging Martyn to complete the ground floor addition.”

We engaged Martyn to design and complete a first stage attic / ensuite conversion of our Surry Hills reference #12 terrace, with the plan of the second stage open plan ground floor addition he designed at a later date. Based on our first experience, we again engaged Martyn from Special Terrace House to complete the ground floor addition and then front yard restoration to its original state. The attic conversion, designed and built by Martyn from Special Terrace House, was a great success completed efficiently, on-time and budget.

Verity, Surry Hills

Martyn’s Talent and creativity gave us a very functional design.

We wanted to renovate and extend our terrace to accommodate our growing family. We wanted a well designed compact ground floor plan that would be stylish, visually striking but most importantly functional and practical. Martyn’s talent and creativity gave us a very functional design that is truly unique and has that “wow” factor. At every stage Martyn was very involved and has been a pleasure to deal with. He gave us timely and professional advice at all times. His insistence on getting the design elements right and the practical ideas he offered have been crucial to the project. His design flair and breadth of building experience in terrace houses has resulted in an architecturally distinctive terrace that we are proud of. A big thank you Martyn and Special terrace house.

Emily and Michael, Annandale