Approach

Our practice is to listen to our clients, help them define their needs, provide a creative and innovative design solution, work to a budget, and deliver as agreed.  We draw on the expertise of specialist consultants, contractors, suppliers and artists.

Our design process is to:

Listen

We invest in relationships with our clients, seeking a deep understanding of their goals and requirements. Working together to clarify and articulate the functional needs and aspirations for their project – from privacy to light, branding to income, security to inclusivity.

Investigate

Testing, experimenting, examining. We think unconventionally and work with an openness to new ideas to explore the infinite possibilities for every design challenge. We work with rigour from conceptual design to long term maintenance. We are strategic decision makers.

Learn

We gather critical information on functional and compliance requirements to gain a clear project appreciation. We research the environmental, social, cultural and historical context of each site.

Collaborate

We partner with clients, communities, specialist consultants, contractors, suppliers and artists to shape our projects. We collaborate from concept to construction to co-create the project.

Care

With careful documentation we devise solutions that do many things at once – as much as possible with as little as possible. Our quality assurance process reduces errors and mitigates risk.

brett boardman house exterior

Our approach embraces seven core principles:

People

First and foremost, we design meaningful places for people, for our clients and others, to live, work and enjoy. 

Place / Country

Gritty urban laneway. Pristine bush setting. Our buildings are inspired by, respond to and enhance the physical and intangible aspects of site and context. We seek to understand and care for Country.

Purpose

Function, at both abstract and practical levels, is the prime generator of space and form. We work with our clients to clearly define the intended uses of a building or space.

Joy

We create spaces and places that are generous and beautiful; that people love. The clear and intangible qualities of light, shadow, space and materiality are at the heart of our work.

Sustainability

Our projects are built to last. We minimise our impact on the natural environment through material selection, waste, water and energy reduction, passive solar design, recycling and adaptive re-use. We aim for optimal environmental performance, sustainability, durability and ease of maintenance. 

Efficiency

Budgetary constraint is a generator of innovation, delivering a project on budget, a success. A deep knowledge of building technology and construction detailing results in efficient design and documentation.

Value

We work closely with our clients and cost consultant from concept to detailed design, documentation to construction, to create efficient, value-adding projects.

A functional building that brings joy and comfort to users, is sensitive to the environment and stands the test of time is the ultimate achievement.