Since 1999 MWA has won more than 26 AIA awards + competitions for a range of project types, including, Multi-Residential Housing, Urban Design, Interiors, Small Projects, Adaptive Re-use and Public Art. Our track record of awards from AIA, AILA and PIA is a testament to the design capability of the studio to work across design disciplines and at varying scales. The common thread to all these projects is an abiding interest in city-shaping and place-making projects.

Architectural projects of scale are necessarily complex, and it is to this complexity that design can add value. Design can synthesize complex information, services, and programmatic requirements into a unified, rational, and legible whole. It can also bring delight and meaning, transcending the program of any brief and, as a result, transform infrastructure into city artefact or housing into place. At the core of any successful development, is the importance of people and their everyday experience.

Architecture is both an art and a science. Underlying all our design is an idea of construction. MWA have over the past 2 decades worked closely with engineers and builders, often on repeat projects and so we have a keen appreciation of structural and construction logic. We have developed a material palette that minimizes maintenance and eschews scaffolding finishes.  We are interested in buildings that become better over time, that improve with weathering and landscape development.

At the heart of MWA’s approach is an appreciation of place and program. Through research, analysis and an understanding of historic models and types, key design principles are developed. Site organisation is key. These principles provide a founding framework for the design. Ultimately a conceptual diagram is sought. A project narrative that communicates a unifying design idea through the complex process of authority approvals, stakeholder groups and technical requirements, regardless of scale or complexity. Much like the sculptural figure that is rolled down the hill, the arms fall off followed by legs and finally the head… till all you are left with is a torso.

Our experience in over 20 years of practice has shown that the most successful projects are those built on respectful and trusting collaborations between architect, client and builder. We are interested in creating such relationships in which there is trust about what each party brings to the process and an implicit agreement about the quality of the project. The design of architectural projects is inherently complex, involving a raft of technical consultants and client inputs, in an iterative process. To repeat this process a 2nd, 3rd or even 4th time makes the process considerably more efficient, with greater potential to produce a quality outcome.