Philosophy

Architecture that’s second to nature AND design thinking to make cities work. Led by Dr Andrew Burns, Architecture AND continues the evolution from Andrew Burns Architecture to our next phase of practice.

Working across a breadth of natural and urban settings, our projects are materially rich and geometrically precise. We understand buildings as one instance of a larger system and we engage with that broader complexity. We work at a range of scales, from small pavilions and houses to large mixed use, educational and multi-residential projects, with a deep sense of care underpinning all that we do.

Light to Light Walk - recessive architecture, secondary to nature.

Methodology

Collaboration

We begin by understanding the project and site in detail, collaborating with other specialists to ensure we’re working with the site and not against it and that our design response aligns with the commercial brief that underpins it. Architecture is a collective endeavour – best when considered in relation to other disciplines: Architecture AND landscape, AND ecology, AND people, AND culture.

Interpreting the Client Vision

We work with clients and organisations with a clear vision. When working to understand and interpret this vision, we place the problem we’re trying to solve at the heart of our work. In doing so, design becomes a tool before it becomes an outcome, helping us develop architectural concepts that realise the client vision in space and form and begin to solve the problems of the project.

Transferring Knowledge

We see the city as an ecology and seek to contribute to its organic and vibrant progression by applying our deep experience working in natural settings. We seek a light touch, revealing and valuing what is already there while identifying opportunities for the introduction of restorative environments. We look for elements that allow a design outcome to become more than the sum of its parts, contributing something unexpected while fulfilling the essential brief.

Precision

Our design process diverges to explore all possibilities of a project, before converging to refine the most promising ones. Our architectural forms are aesthetically precise and crisply defined yet remain flexible, with a delineation between the base building and fit-out ensuring they can accommodate multiple futures. Continuity of materials is key, absorbing the references and characteristics of their location to maintain a sense of intentionality.

Nature tourism projects must be designed with their central purpose in mind; to enrich the experience of natural landscapes.

Projects must be designed with minimal impact through approaches such as compact footprints, reversible foundations, passive environmental systems, ecological management and subtle materiality to blend with the landscape. Our experience working for both National Parks organisations and private clients has given us a broad understanding of this sector. Common across these client types is an aspiration to improve access to natural settings, enabling longer and more immersive stays and providing access for all abilities and ages.

For a sample of our nature tourism projects, click here.

Education is a two-way exchange, with teacher and student as shared participants in learning.

Accordingly, education projects are underpinned by engagement with both expert educators and students, discovering possibilities that broaden pedagogical opportunities while creatively responding to student perspectives. We recognise educators as having deep insight into the implications of space for learning and are fascinated by the collaborative design possibilities that arise from this.

For a sample of our education projects, click here.

Multi-residential projects have a dual role; to provide high quality dwellings while shaping the future city.

The sheer number of residents is an engine for community, which can be channelled into the creation of attractive and engaging public domain interfaces, retail and associated spaces. On this basis, successful multi-residential projects are urban-design led and this approach creates a platform for successful engagement with approval bodies to realise projects that are both appealing for the resident and a positive contribution to the precinct.

For a sample of our multi-residential projects, click here.

Public and cultural projects must engage with the complexity of their time and place, distilling these forces to embody the values of the institution.

By definition, public projects should extract all possible public benefit, identifying lateral opportunities within the project while becoming a catalyst for activation beyond the site. Public and cultural projects are some of the most enduring assets of a society, and as such reach into questions of place and identity.

For a sample of our public and cultural projects, click here.

Hospitality projects require a clear narrative that extends through all aspects of the design, providing a cohesive guest experience that is aligned to the character of the place.

While hotel projects in natural and regional settings may emphasise connection to the landscape, urban hotels present an opportunity to engage with the diversity and energy of the city. We enjoy collaborating with hospitality developers, operators and hotel advisory firms, understanding the opportunities of each site and brief. Hotels are fascinating as a dynamic asset class, able to generate value in a broad range of settings. Hotel design is well served by a sound urban-design rationale, linking the building to it's context. This serves to provide activation and in turn successful food and beverage spaces, which drives hotel bookings and taps into an ecology that can attract quality operators.

For a sample of our hospitality projects, click here.

Dwellings are a realisation of long held aspirations for one's daily experience.

The design of a home is a very personal experience. As architects, we understand that the process of undertaking a renovation or new build is very intimate. We listen carefully and bring our experience to interpret and identify further opportunities to fully realise the potential of each project. Beyond the personal, we also consider the strategic role of houses to allow multiple modes of occupation across all life stages, and by extension fostering a capacity to contribute to community over the long term.

For a sample of our dwellings, click here.

Masterplans should create space for multiple futures, opening possibilities through intelligent coordination.

Masterplanning projects present an opportunity to align development of a site or precinct over a long time period, providing an optimal outcome that would not likely occur in the absence of such frameworks. We seek to reduce dependencies within masterplans, enabling projects to be realised gradually and with reduced reliance on completion of other masterplan projects. This enables the masterplan to be responsive to needs as they emerge. Masterplan projects benefit from broad community engagement - the kernel of an idea behind even major masterplans is often found in the most quiet of community insights.

For a sample of our masterplanning and urban design projects, click here.

Connecting with Country

Architecture AND recognises the connection between First Nations peoples and Country as an essential part of all places; urban, regional and natural. We value the distinctive understandings and knowledge held within these communities, incomparably formed over more than 60,000 years. As the same land provides the central focus of our profession, we consider an understanding of Country to be of great significance to the future formation of the built environment, holding the promise of an alignment between development patterns, cultural and natural systems, with restorative potential.

Sustainability

We are part of a generation for who sustainability is no longer an option but an imperative, integral to architectural practice. We approach this by initially asking fundamental questions about a project to identify sustainable pathways, such as opportunities for efficiency and retention of existing structures. We design in accordance with passive solar principles; orientation, cross ventilation, shading and thermal mass. We work collaboratively with expert consultant teams to optimise performance across passive and active systems and we review material selections to minimise carbon footprint.