Three commission types. Every project resolves architecture, interior and landscape as one — and renewal of an existing building is taken on within whichever type fits the site.
Noosa Residence · 3iD Studios
01
Residential
Currently in commission: rural and beachfront sites across Queensland and Victoria. New homes and substantial renewal of existing ones.
Spaces that reflect and respond to site, and to how you live.
Atelier Terra is the Noosa studio of Mike Nowson, Creative Director. The work brings the spatial intelligence and structural discipline of contemporary modernism together with the warmth that discipline alone cannot produce: atmosphere, craft, and the quality that makes a building feel genuinely inhabited.
Queensland's subtropical climate is the starting point of every brief. A deep overhang calibrated to the sun's angle at each season. Cross-ventilation designed into every plan before a window is placed. Thresholds that dissolve the line between inside and out, with level change, shadow line, and the quiet logic of a single material transition.
The studio holds a small number of luxury residential, hospitality and resort commissions at any one time. Each is led personally by Mike from first sketch to final detail. Fewer projects, a more unified approach, complete attention to what is built.
Behind the studio is twenty-five years of Mike's broader practice across education, civic, commercial, hospitality and residential. Time lived in Bali, alongside continuing exposure to Lombok and the Indonesian archipelago, has shaped the approach to subtropical and tropical sites at the level of principle. The Mediterranean tradition, drawn from time in the south of France and Monaco, sits in the same body of reference. Atelier Terra is the considered specialisation of that practice onto craft.
The work is supported by a small senior team of architects, interior designers and technicians, several of whom have been with Mike for more than a decade. Rodney Munro, Associate, has been part of the practice since 2005. The continuity is what allows design intent to survive intact through documentation and construction.
Each commission assembles the right collaborators: landscape specialists, interior designers, specialist consultants. Documentation, contract administration and construction-phase delivery are handled in partnership with 3iD Architecture, the studio's commercial and institutional arm.
"After the frustration of dealing with other architects, we were introduced to Mike Nowson. We were very impressed with his ideas and his willingness to listen to what we wanted and turn our ideas into reality. We found him and his team extremely easy to work with throughout our project, and their ideas very practical. Without his input and support our home would not have been built to the high standard that has been achieved."
Paula Bunting
Private residential client · Extensive luxury home on acreage
"Mike and the team have been integral to the birth, design and construction of Quiddity Place. Through countless hours of concept discussions and drawings, we developed an exceptional space for our new winery. They thoughtfully designed environments that showcase a private art collection alongside a restaurant that works beautifully. Their guidance throughout the design, tender and build process has been second to none."
Peta Davis
Owner, Quiddity Place · Winery, restaurant and gallery
"My company has been involved in several construction projects over the past 17 years and we have worked with many highly regarded architects. I have had the pleasure of working with Mike Nowson over the past three years. In all instances, Mike has been incredibly responsive when it comes to providing detailed drawings and information to support the project. Mike is very organised, extremely intelligent and has an amazing eye for modern design. He has built a network around him that includes the city's top industry professionals. At each turn of the construction process he has an informed answer to our technical questions, which allows the project to drive forward without delay. He has the depth of knowledge and experience to lead a project from pre-construction planning through to completion like very few others."
Mario Gregorio
BIG Group of Companies · Elephant and Castle restaurant; multilevel luxury apartment
"An excellent architecture service. Professionalism of the highest standard."
Stuart Jones
Luxury beach house, significant remodel and transformation, Surf Coast
"I have known Mr Michael Nowson for over fifteen years and have absolutely no hesitation in giving to him the highest possible recommendation. I worked very closely with Michael as the College Architect on a large number of major projects over many years — culminating in the renowned project The Katsumata Centre which won a number of prestigious International Awards. Michael is a thorough and talented professional with vision and drive who would work very long hours to make sure that whatever project or development he puts his keen mind to, will come to a sure and successful fruition. Every project Michael and I worked on ended with great acclaim for Michael's work. Michael has always displayed a most pleasant and balanced personality with a most refreshing and engaging sense of humour. You can absolutely always rely on Michael to present all aspects of any project with complete honesty and integrity."
John Goodfellow OAM
Founding Principal, Kardinia International College · The Katsumata Centre, multiple International Awards
"We have worked with Mike and his team on several projects over the past 15 years. They always listen and work to what we are trying to achieve and offer great design options for us to consider."
Mel Pitman
Private client · Units, 32-bed hotel design and private residence
Rural Queensland · In design
Elevated hinterland site. Rammed earth, hardwood and concrete.
Sunshine Coast · In documentation
Coastal residence. Deep overhangs. Pool to the north.
Solomons Islands- Nu Finua · Complete
Boutique hospitality. Tropical Remote eco Resort
Victoria · In design
Rural estate. Warm regionalism.
Design Study- New Coastal Home- Joanna Beach
Buntings Residence- Completed project
Furphy Hall- Hospitality Dining and band venue-Completed project
The studio
Where the work begins.
Atelier Terra studio · Noosaville
In studio · 3iD Architecture
Design study · Material palette
How a commission begins.
Every project begins with a site visit, not a brief form. We walk the land at different times of day, reading the light, the breeze, the relationship between built and unbuilt. What we're looking for is what a site wants to become, and what it will resist.
Once the design intent is clear, we use the most sophisticated visualisation and documentation tools available, translating those personal, human-led ideas into precise digital models, immersive renders, and construction-ready documentation. The technology serves the thinking, never the other way around.
Currently in commission.
The practice currently holds a small number of active commissions: rural properties on elevated Queensland hinterland sites, beachfront residences on the Sunshine Coast, residential and hospitality projects in Indonesia, and a rural estate commission in Victoria.
Enquiries are invited for projects commencing late 2026 and 2027.
Design Concepts· Hospitality interior
“People come to Noosa for the climate. We design so they never have to leave it.”
Atelier Terra · Noosa, Queensland
Creative Director
“At this point in the practice's work and my career, craft and detail is everything.”
Designed from the inside out — how a room feels at seven in the morning, how light moves across a day, how a threshold between inside and out dissolves so naturally you stop noticing it is there.
One studio. Three sister companies.
Atelier Terra sits within the 3iD group of companies, alongside 3iD Studios and Casa Noosa. The Noosa team is built and staffed specifically to service luxury residential and boutique hospitality — senior architects, interior designers and technicians who stay across a project from first sketch to final detail.
Architecture, interiors, furniture. One commission.
Through The Complete Home, Atelier Terra's co-branded package with Casa Noosa, architecture, interior design and furniture curation are delivered as a single commission. Casa Noosa is Noosa's destination for considered living, with nearly forty years of relationships in the region. From the first sketch to the last cushion placed.
Documentation, contract administration, delivery.
Construction documentation, contract administration and statutory compliance flow through to 3iD Studios, the group's commercial and delivery arm. Design leadership on Atelier Terra commissions remains entirely with Atelier Terra.
Every commission begins the same way, a conversation about site, aspiration and life. From there, a clear five-stage process takes you from first sketch to completed building.
01
Discovery & Brief
A personal conversation, by phone, online or on site, to understand your project, your site, and what you want the building to do for your life. No forms. No junior staff. Mike leads every first meeting.
02
Site & Feasibility
Reading the land before drawing begins. Sun angles, prevailing winds, views, setbacks, council overlay. Understanding what the site will allow and what it will resist. This is where the real brief is written.
03
Concept Design
Hand sketches first. The discipline of committing line to paper forces decisions that software allows you to defer. A resolved concept, spatial logic, material direction, threshold strategy, before a computer is opened. We pride ourselves on our ability to solve complex problems functionally and aesthetically.
04
Approvals & Documentation
Development application, council engagement, construction documentation. Every junction, threshold and material transition specified before the builder opens a drawing. The detail resolved on paper is the detail built on site.
05
Construction & Delivery
On-site presence through construction. The detail resolved in the drawings is the detail built in the building. Contract administration, builder liaison, and final handover, complete.
Currently accepting enquiries for projects commencing late 2026 and 2027.
“If you’ve stood inside a building and felt it change the quality of your day, felt the light, the quiet, the sense that every decision was made with care, that’s what we deliver”
Mike Nowson · Creative Director, Atelier Terra
Book a Discovery Call
Tell us about your project.
Mike responds personally within 48 hours, not a team member, not a form letter. Most residential commissions sit between $1M and $10M construction value.
