Welcome to Future Talks by RTF, where we engage in insightful conversations with the pioneers who breathe life into design stories. In our upcoming session, we are privileged to host Nic Brunsdon, a luminary in the realm of architecture and a trailblazer in the Australian design landscape.
Nic’s prowess in architecture was underscored when he emerged as the sole winner of the Australian Institute of Architects Emerging Architect Award in 2015, both for Western Australia and nationally. His journey has been marked by notable recognitions, including being a past nominee for the 40 under 40 young business leaders award and a thought leader for the City of Perth.
As the 2015 recipient of the Dulux International Study Tour for Emerging Architects and the 2017/18 recipient of the Gil Nicol Biennial International Study Bursary, Nic has continually sought to push the boundaries of architectural innovation. Additionally, he serves as a founding Board Member of Activate Perth and currently chairs the Perth Centre for Photography, a cornerstone in Australia’s vibrant arts scene.
Nic Brunsdon’s studio has garnered acclaim on the global stage, with accolades at prestigious events such as the World Architecture Festival, Dezeen Awards, Houses Awards, INDE awards, and Australian Institute of Architects Awards. Notably, the studio clinched both the public vote and master jury awards at the esteemed Dezeen Awards for the world’s best hospitality project.
Dedicated to servicing the Asia Pacific region, Nic’s studio operates from offices in Perth, Canggu, and Melbourne.
Join us as we delve into the creative mind space of Nic Brunsdon, unraveling the stories behind his architectural triumphs and exploring the future of design in the Asia Pacific.
RTF: Hi Nic, We are glad to have you as a guest on Future Talks by RTF. Thanks for joining us. What role do Satellite Studios play in influencing the approach of a firm towards design considering their geographic and demographic picture?
Nic: Hi. It’s something we’re constantly monitoring. We currently have offices and staff in Perth, WA, MArgaret River WA, Melbourne Victoria, and Bali, Indonesia. It’s both challenging and wonderfully expansive to have ourselves spread out like this. I guess what we have found is that we have a consolidated way of working and set of guiding ethics and practices which then get to play out in different contexts and respond to hyper-local conditions and opportunities. It means that all projects are distinct and we treat each as opportunities to create a sense of social sustainability, where we have a respectful meeting point between ourselves and each location, neither looking to impose themselves heavily on the other.
RTF: You have been a board member of Activate Perth, how do you look at the importance of championing new ideas to boost a city and how do architecture and entrepreneurship come together to build one?
Nic: I try to stay involved in boards and advocacy bodies to continue to champion the idea of design thinking across multiple scales, locations, and organizational structures. I am also the current Chair of the Perth Centre for Photography and working with these types of institutes helps me understand the importance of teams, strategy, and building consensus within groups. All of these are extremely useful in the understanding of architectural practice and the management of projects and outcomes. In terms of the cities we live in, we always try to be good citizens and have a clearly stated practice motivation as: ‘to leave things better than we found them”.
RTF: What kind of attention do you give to the ‘community’ in conceptualising a project? How do pragmatism and subjectivity go hand-in-hand in it?
Nic: It is always different project to project. Community can mean many things, in a residential sense it can start at the independent family unit/inhabitants of a house, to their extended family and friends, to the neighbourhood, to the suburb, to the city, to the state, etc etc. It all depends on where you draw the circle. We try to be pragmatic about it by having a strong set of ethics and working principles. We are very proud to be BCorp certified, we also have a Reconciliation Action Plan we are 2 years in to, and we have a Sustainability Action Plan. All of these make sure we are taking care of the communities we serve in our projects through supply chains, environmental considerations, and stakeholder engagements.
RTF: How do you look at the work beyond designing for young architects, such as the likes of involvement in publishing, handling media and building an online presence?
Nic: This is ahrd and there is no one right way. You can overcompensate nd build out a social presence before you have a body of work to stand behind and it can feel inauthentic and facile. Alternatively, you can do the work and then not focus on building the channels out to help share that with audiences. It’s all a spectrum and is down to each individual to see where they most comfortably sit. We’ve always believed that it’s important to talk about what we’re doing and to make sure it have relevance and utility as a part of trying to advocate for better outcomes.
RTF: Who has been your inspiration throughout your architectural journey?
Nic: The biggest one would have to be my grandmother. Every year for Christmas she would buy me a packet of Derwent Colour pencils. It wasn’t so much that I was actively artistic or drawing daily, but it was noticing and fostering an interest that lay dormant for a long time. She was an artist and showed me that being an artist was OK.
RTF: Which has been the most rewarding project for you until today? And what factored it to be?
Nic: This one is hard to say. With recency bias it is probably our Natioanl Gallery of Victoria Architectural commission which we won back in 2023. It opened in November last year and has been a really special moment for the practice. The fact that it is not specifically a building, but still holds all the most important pieces of concept and realisation, and does it all in a highly public space has been interesting to watch.
RTF: Where does one find you when you’re not working?
Nic: At the beach. Or swimming. I’m about to swim the 20km long channel between Cottesloe Beach in Perth and Rottnest Island. It’ll be a big challenge and I’m excited for it.
RTF: How important do you think an architectural identity is for a firm? What does that ‘architectural signature’ mean to you?
Nic: I’m not sure. We try to actively avoid any sort of ‘house-style’ in our buildings. There are predilections and preferences, but we don’t ever want to have a known aesthetic or expected built form. The thing that holds our work together is the conceptual rigour. We always try to establish a conceptual narrative that helps hold the project together and creates alignment with the team and client group. We love to interrogate briefs for opportunities and think of ourselves not as problem-solvers, but opportunity creators.
RTF: How do you foresee architecture and design to transform in the coming years?
Nic: That’s a tough one. I really don’t know. It’s easy to say AI, but like all technological advances, I think it’ll help the parts of the industry that our already moving towards automation and are more labour-based services, rather than professional or consultative. By extension, it may make the actual practice of architecture and the application of design thinking much more valuable and appreciated. Wouldnt that be nice.
Thank you so much for doing this interview with us. We look forward to publishing this interview on our website soon.
