Architects designing buildings to be loved for generations

10/05/2022 | Domain.com.au

1 | 2

Woods Bagot is synonymous with high-profile, award-winning projects delivered across the globe, including projects for iconic brands like Apple, Google and PWC.

Founded in South Australia in 1869, the architecture firm has found success by continually evolving and adapting its practice to meet changing demands. 

Jason Fraser, a principal of the firm’s Sydney studio, says one of the key strengths of the practice is having a global presence, with 17 studios spanning six regions.

“We’re very lucky in that one of our credos is that we believe in sharing information and knowledge,” says Fraser. “And we’re lucky in the sense that we have such a broad range of practices, typologies and people, which gives us an incredibly rich knowledge base to draw on and share across the globe.”

Fraser says Woods Bagot rails against the concept of a founder firm, where one person’s word is gospel. Instead, everyone has a voice, an opinion, and there’s no such thing as a bad idea.

Today, Woods Bagot is focused on architectural intelligence, a built form that places substance ahead of style and can evolve alongside the people it serves.

“One of our directors, Sarah Kay, came up with the term future leading,” Fraser says. “What we try and do is something exemplary and inspirational that leads to the future. The future is unseeable, so we speak about adaptable buildings today; truly agnostic buildings that can change into the future.”

Fraser says residential buildings can be more challenging to future-proof than commercial or hospitality offerings, but at one of the firm’s latest projects, Aura by Aqualand in North Sydney, Woods Bagot has come up with floor plans that support multipurpose spaces. 

Full story available here