The Heart Behind Home: Iziko Designs
Carlie Wacker meets a couple designing homes that feel deeply connected to both the families who live in them and the local land they inhabit. A duo that add heart to the art of designing a home.
Iziko Designs is a small, intentional Sunshine Coast studio built on the union of two strengths: Rustin Obery’s lifelong love of architecture and his wife Bernadette’s exceptional leadership in business, communication and client experience.
Together, they lead a practice grounded in creativity, clarity and connection, designing homes that feel personal and beautifully attuned to the land.
For Rustin, design has never been a career but a calling rooted in the earliest chapters of his life. Growing up in South Africa with an architect father, he spent his childhood wandering building sites, proudly carrying the tape measure and absorbing the craft of shaping space.
That curiosity became a lifelong passion for architecture, residential design and the poetry of a well-considered home. The bond and belief this couple share in each other is palpable when you meet them.
Bernadette says that Rustin’s sweet spot was his humility and ability to listen.
“He’s extraordinary at it,” she says. “And he has a way with people that makes them feel comfortable and really seen. This allows him to understand what they want and desire out of a luxury home and bring that to life within their budget.”
Alongside Rustin’s design intuition sits Bernadette’s 15 years of experience in business management, program leadership and major transformation work including coaching teams through organisational change and IT integrations.
Today, she oversees project scheduling, operations, systems, marketing, budgets, finance and accounts bringing the structure, clarity and communication that allows creativity to thrive. Clients consistently feel supported, informed and guided because of her steady and nurturing leadership. Together, they bring the perfect balance: design excellence paired with a people-first business acumen; a business built on authenticity, exceptional skill and heartfelt authenticity.
Iziko’s story is shaped by two worlds. Rustin relocated from South Africa nearly a decade ago to join Bernadette on the Sunshine Coast, where she grew up. Today, they live in Coolum Beach, raising their beautiful family and immersing themselves in the community they feel deeply connected to.
Their South African heritage is embedded in their brand—Iziko is an isiXhosa (official African language) word meaning “hearth” – the warm, central gathering place of a home. For them, it symbolises connection, conversation, and belonging, the heart of every project they take on.
Iziko approaches every design holistically: architecture, interiors, landscape, light, materials and flow are all considered as interconnected parts of a whole. They believe homes should respond both to lifestyle and to their natural environment – especially on the Sunny Coast where sun, breeze, slope and views shape how a home lives.
Their environmental values run deep. Their first home, on 1.5 acres in Valdora, sat at the foot of Mount Ninderry, where Bernadette worked with neighbours and community groups like Landcare and Land for Wildlife to revegetate and restore the native landscape. This hands-on work with the land reinforces their ongoing commitment to environmentally conscious, site-responsive design and the use of native plant life.
Perhaps the standout feature within an Iziko client journey is the early collaboration between all parties involved in building a home.
“Rather than waiting until drawings are complete, we bring trusted local builders into the process from day one,” Bernadette says.
Builders join site visits, provide early cost guidance and help shape key decisions as the design evolves.
Bernadette brings her interior design and native landscaping expertise to the table and this partnership ensures realistic budgets are set from the beginning, resulting in less surprises and designs that are aspirational yet achievable. A calm and confident journey awaits the Iziko client.
They occupy a unique space in Noosa and beyond by offering thoughtful, sophisticated, highly considered design without the formality, hierarchy or high fees of the architectural world. Iziko offers a range of custom homes for various budgets and Rustin’s reverse engineering approach allows clients to really see the full potential of their investment.
The Iziko Designs team thrive on difficult sites and layered briefs, especially Sunshine Coast blocks described as “too hard.” Steep land, unusual shapes, tight access, orientation challenges are the projects that spark their creativity. They see opportunity in terrain, not limitation.
Their own upcoming project is a new family home on a steep Coolum block which truly keeps them connected to the client experience. They understand the emotions, decisions and complexities because they’re living it themselves.
Iziko Designs is a small, people-first building design studio with a deep respect for community, environment and the craft of designing meaningful, practical yet luxurious homes. Their work is intentional, grounded and guided by the belief that a home should be more than a building – it should be a sanctuary, a story and a hearth.
