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“DON’T BE SINGLE-MINDED. TRY TO SEE CONSTRAINTS AS OPPORTUNITIES – BE OPEN TO RECONSIDERING EVERYTHING AT ANY TIME.”
RICHARDS AND SPENCE FOUNDERS ADRIAN SPENCE & INGRID RICHARDS Brisban e , A ustra l i a Where do you go to appreciate exceptional design? We travel as often as we can. Of particular interest are cities or towns where there is a concentration of work by a single architectural practice - think Plecnik in Ljubljana. The one thing people always ask me is: Why do we use arches? The arch provides transparency at low level, which is good for retail but compositionally retains the integrity of a wall. Three words that most appropriately sum up our approach to design are: As much as necessary, as little as possible.
What is a key influence that we can anticipate seeing in projects you are yet to release? Time and cost pressures on site have shifted our focus to precast and prefabricated elements. We are constantly recalibrating our design and detailing to suit current construction demands. What is the one piece of advice you would share with a young designer? Don’t be single-minded. Try to see constraints as opportunities - be open to reconsidering everything at any time. When you walk into a room, what is the first thing you always notice about a space? The lighting What does designing for a better world mean to you in 2023? Building a long-term ambition.
Photography David Chatfield, Yaseera Moosa