Hand Made

Human Made

Photography by Anson Smart

Styling by Claire Delmar

A decade of curated works 2013 -2023

Human Made

A corner of the walnut and leather banquette at Alexander House and a small piece of work by artists Greg Wood

Page 2-3

The front garden of Iluka House, before the dining pavilion was rebuild more completely it was refurbished along with larger project of completing the house and garden.

Page 4

The Alexander &CO leadership team; Aime Frankel, Shelby Griffiths, Jeremy Bull, Tess Glasson

This page

A view from the master bedroom of the Flotilla House, completed construction 2020

Tamarama Hill Penthouse, Tamarama Page 1

Contents

Alexander House, Bondi Junction

Ayrburn, Queenstown NZ

Bondi Junction House

Flotilla House, Watsons Bay

Manly Wharf Bar

Nomad, Surry Hills

Oak House, Walsh Bay

Pacific House, Dover Heights

Palm Beach House

Sandhill House. North Bondi

Sean Connolly, Dubai

Spotted Gum, Artarmon

Foreword

The journey of this practice has been for me the culmination of over 26 years of what was first curiosity, and was soon to become an obsession with design and architecture. A practice named after my many forebears who share my own middle name, Alexander, I am inherently passionate about longevity, and dare I say timelessness. ‘CO’ in this case is the belief I have in ‘cultures of people’ bringing their shared value toward the co-creation of a design practice which I hope will continue creating architecture long after I can no longer do it myself.

I have been profoundly lucky in my career so far. Commencing my study in 1998 at the University of Sydney’s School of Architecture, Design and Planning, I was surrounded by people who cared for our education and were passionate about imagination. A six year education with two bachelor degrees, my first work experience was with the then titled Tanner Associates (now TKD) as Howard had designed my parents house, followed by Indyk Architects, Andrew Burges Architecture (now ABA) who was also my University tutor in my final degree course and employed me after graduation, and then Akin Creative (now Akin Atelier) before founding Alexander &CO. in 2013. I have had the extraordinary fortune of being professionally trained in a time when a student learnt to practice in the ammonia print room and architecture in small practice was diverse, hands on and unabridged. For the first 20 years of my career, there was no such thing as a ‘vertical’, and I have enjoyed this flexibility to the benefit of my own education. From master planning in civic and community projects, to object design, architecture, retail design, hospitality and my continued passion for designing houses. I have played technician, designer, contract administrator, marketeer and practice manager. For the last 13 years I have revelled in the pursuit of self employment whilst raising 4 sons and working with my own spouse, Tess, who has both supported the practice, educated and supported me and championed our marketing and public relations. Although we are not quite a ‘family business’, our small cloister of buildings radiates around my own home and I am proud to be able to tie work and life so closely together that they can contribute to my own personal sustainability in an industry which can be consumptive and ever demanding.

My work is now most focused upon residential Architecture and interior design as our professional clientele demand more and more a clearly positioned vertical of expertise, particularly in a local residential design market in which ‘the home’ is a lucrative commodity and not one with any margin of risk. Hospitality/retail placemaking and design continues to be a design outlet where we provide commercial successes for our clients, but it demands less of our marketing resource these days. Architecture is where my passion lies, and building houses continues to thrill me, as does the smell of wet concrete and cut wood, on site where I find some of my greatest joy.

Our approach is one of a rich interest in the makers and manufacturers who provide their materials and expertise to the making of these buildings, and I hope to wed a long interest in neo-modernity with the crafting of hand made materials and objects to create deeply human, materially thrilling buildings which can endure. I am fascinated by the feeling of space, by emotion, tension, by complexity and light falling on form. And I am fascinated by people.

And after all this, I wish it to be sustainable. Our subscription to carbon neutrality, waste minimisation, adult developmental theory and B Corp membership is seated in a deep hope that we can make a world which can restore balance and find a regenerative, not reductive, approach to doing its work.

Jeremy Bull Principal, Alexander &CO

On story making

On a Friday morning I often take one of my sons to breakfast before I drop him at school. We sit together at one of our favourite cafes and we have breakfast. In the strange silences that occur with sons at cafes, I share with him some stories about my own childhood. It is easy enough to remember the broad concept of various memories that exist within my childhood but the details are often quite vague, and so I make them up, just to be sure that the stories are worthwhile.

I play back these partially true stories as if they were all mine, I add some animation to them, I fill in details and feelings that may or may not have ever taken place and I play them to Felix as if they were real. He enjoys them until he tells me he just wants to eat, and then I drink a long black and its all done. A new version of a past that never quite existed but now maybe does.

I expect that this is how I see the entire process of creative work. The making of partially true stories that are larger than life, which becomes true by the very intent in which they are told. It’s not very academic and the version of me that studied piously at Architecture School wouldn’t understand it, but I understand it quite well now. I think they call it revisionism.

And so I look upon my process now as one of narrative building, or story making. The technical work that consumed the majority of my career is now the pen ink which helps to scribe the interior versions of the world that I wish to inhabit. Years of modernist architecture training are fused with just as many years of story telling to create a language which is our own.

We make these stories with bricks and light and wood, but mostly we make them with versions of memories which we have retold with some new found magic called down from the stars. We make these stories with the many hands that are needed to bring important, valuable work to life.

This book is my attempt to share with you some of our stories as they have been brought to figure. It is a story of light reflecting on form, it is shadow, emotion and curiosity. And ultimately they are stories which are all human made.

Flotilla House Watsons Bay

“The success of the project was to be somewhat invisible. The essence of the building was so near to complete, our greatest error would have been to interfere any more than was needed”

- Jeremy Bull, Principal

“A

building which took 6 years of iteration, it is stoic and sublime. A carved rock face and an ocean pool, it is neither landscape nor home, but both”

- Jeremy Bull, Principal

“Creating more than one house for any client is difficult to conceive. This, our second time around was no less challenging, perhaps more so as the canvas was blank and the expectation higher”

- Jeremy Bull, Principal

Alexander House Bondi Junction

“He ultimately considered the project to be another part of his own exploration. After some decades of play for his many clients, I think this was a chance to try it on for himself”

- Jeremy Bull, Principal

Sandhill HouseNorth Bondi

Integrated Architectural & Interior Design Consultancy

We are Registered, Class 2 Licensed Architects and A+ members of the Australian Institute of Architects. We are also Registered Architects in New Zealand and Fellows of the Design Institute of Australia.

This provides us the accreditation to practice both Architecture and Interior Design without restriction, on all building classifications and of all scales in both Australia and New Zealand. The benefit to our clients is a consultancy which is integrated, coordinated and turn key.

Integration;

We have the ability to provide a consultancy which commences with the site’s initial feasibility, and completes with the installation of furnishings at the completion of the project. For many clients, the integration of the design disciplines of Architecture and Interior Design reduces the project administration complexity, reduces the total consultancy fees and increases the efficiency of the program.

Coordinated;

Within our practice, the Architecture and Interior Design teams work in coordination. Structural decisions are made within the interest of the interior finishings, fitments and the clients particular interior demands. We are able to reduce the overall material footprint of the building by coordinating both the Architectural and Interior Design disciplines in parallel. We can increase detail resolution whilst reducing material cost.

Turnkey;

From site master planning, statutory building approvals and permits, through to commissioning, furniture procurement and furnishing, we are able to provide for the Lead Consultant role, managing both project vision and risk within a single agency.

We integrate Architecture and Interior Design with technical rigour and creative passion. We specialise in the Architectural and Interior Design consultancy of timeless buildings, including;

Site diagnostics

Site master planning

Architectural and interior design

Authority approvals and technical compliance

Construction documentation, pre-construction, construction and post construction phase works

Object, styling and furniture design

Our work comes from the human-made, but it also comes from traditional schools of Architectural modernity. It is a grafting of a technically skillful architectural approach to a creative language which is founded on humanity and storytelling.

A+ Members of the Australian Institute of Architects (RAIA), the Design Institute of Australia (DIA) and Registered Architects in Australia and New Zealand.

Our Team

Jeremy Bull Principal

Jeremy has built an organisation of irrefutable dynamism, establishing Alexander &CO as an agency renown for its innovation and its breadth of creative capacity. Deeply interested in the connection of people to place, storytelling and the hand drawn, he has imbued his firms projects with both material richness and a firm architectural discipline.

Unafraid to challenge category, Jeremy’s portfolio spans commercial and residential, architectural and interior design and is seated in transparent leadership, shared vision and individual responsibility. Graduating from The University of Sydney in 2002 with a Bsc.Arch and B.Arch, Architecturally registered since 2003, and a Fellow of the DIA.

Shelby Griffiths Associate

Shelby resides between client, team and practice advocacy and is both an adept diplomat and staunch truth speaker. Her creativity is founded within the opportunity to build upon our humanity; to intensify our relationships and our shared stories and experiences through the work we create together.

Indelible and unflappable, she is unafraid to show creative courage in the face of the status quo and takes pleasure within the joy of new ideas. She was trained at Curtain University’s school of the built environment with a Bachelor of Architectural Science and Diploma in Interior Design.

Amie Frankel General Manager

Amie is the practice management fulcrum, overseeing client journey and project delivery across the portfolio. She finds her excellence in the cultivation of the practice’s human talent and the planning of projects as a strategic alliance between the needs of our clients and the needs of our team.

She advocates for organisational sustainability within the commercial demands of practice life, holding firm her values of shared enrollment and seeking to meet our individual motivations and her own; compassionately and emphatically.

Tess Glasson Marketing & PR Director

Tess has lead marketing and Public Relations teams for more than three decades, in fashion, fast moving consumer goods, emerging designers and for her last ten years in architecture and interior design at Alexander &CO.

She oversees the marketing cycle within Alexander &CO from the production of our project photography through to media syndication, award submissions, social media and client relations. Tess sits within our Practice Leadership team as one of the founding visionaries of the practice’s purpose and helps bring the ‘family’ to this family business.

Awards

Alexander and CO are multi award winners, award highlights include:

Frame’s Restaurant of the Year for Sean Connelly at Dubai Opera

Belle Fanuli’s Interior Designer of the Year

INDE Awards Best Workspace

2023

Idea Awards

Shortlist - Residential Single Category - Nomad

House and Garden Top 50 Rooms

Finalist - Best Kitchen - Nomad

2022

Dezeen Awards

Shortlist - Small Workplace - Alexander House

Shortlist - Emerging Interior Design Studio

House & Garden

Winner - Best Kitchen - Pacific House

Belle Fanuli Interior Design Awards

Shortlist - Interior Designer of the Year

Shortlist - Best Commercial Interior - LO&CO

Shortlist - Best Hospitality Interior - Genovese Coffee House

Idea Awards

Shortlist - Retain - LO&CO

Shortlist - Hospitality - Manly Wharf Bar

Shortlist - Residential Single - Pacific House

Shortlist - Hospitality - Genovese Coffee House

AIDA Awards

Shortlist - Hospitality Design - Genovese Coffee House

2021

Inde Awards

Winner - The Work Space - Alexander House

Inde Awards

Finalist - The Design Studio - Alexander & CO.

Architizer A+ Awards

Winner - Architecture +Workspace - Alexander House

House and Garden Top 50 Rooms

Kitchen of the Year and Room of the Year

Idea Awards

Shortlist - Hospitality - Harbord Hotel

Idea Awards

Shortlist - Workplace Under 1000 sqm - Alexander House

Idea Awards

Shortlist - Residential Single - Spotted Gum House

Eat Drink Design Awards

Commendation- Best Restaurant Design - Harbord Hotel

Restaurant and Bar Design Awards

Shortlist - Australia & Pacific Standalone - Harbord Hotel

Belle Fanuli Interior Design Awards

Shortlist - Interior Designer of the Year - Principal, Jeremy Bull

Belle Fanuli Interior Design Award

Winner - Hospitality Interior - Harbord Hotel

Belle Fanuli Interior Design Awards

Winner - Commercial Interior - Alexander House

AIDA Awards

Shortlist - Hospitality Design - Harbord Hotel

AIDA Awards

Shortlist - Residential Design - Spotted Gum House

AIDA Awards

Shortlist - Workplace Design - Alexander House

House Awards

Shortlist - Alterations & Additions Over 200 sqm - Spotted

Gum House

House Awards

Shortlist - New House Over 200 sqm - Alexander House

2020

House

Shortlist - New House over 200sqm

Dezeen

Longlisted - Emerging Designer of the Year

Restaurant and Bar Design Awards

Winner - Pacific & Australia Restaurant- Glorietta

Restaurant and Bar Design Awards

Winner - Pacific & Australia Bar - Tilly May’s

Idea Awards

Shortlist - Hospitality Design - Woolwich Pier Hotel

Shortlist - Hospitality Interior - Glorietta

Shortlist - Workplace Under 1000 sqm - Will&Co.

Shortlist - Hospitality Design - Will&Co.

Eat Drink Design Awards

Shortlist - Best Cafe Design - Will&Co.

Shortlist - Best Restaurant Design - Glorietta

Australian Interior Design Awards

Shortlist - Residential Design - Bondi Junction

Shortlist - Hospitality Design - Glorietta, Woolwich Pier

Hotel, Will & Co, Tilly May’s

Belle Coco Republic Interior Design Awards

Finalist - Residential Interior - Bondi Junction House

Finalist - Hospitality Interior - Glorietta & Woolwich Pier

Inde Awards

Shortlist, The Design Studio

Dulux Colour Awards

Finalist - Commercial Interior, Public and HospitalityBurleigh Pavilion

2019

Belle Coco Republic Interior Design Awards

Finalist, Imperial UP

Dulux Colour Awards

Finalist, Commercial Interior, Public and Hospitality, Imperial UP

Dulux Colour Awards

Finalist, Commercial Interior, Public and Hospitality, Imperial Hotel

Frame Awards

Longlist, Emerging Interior Designer Of The Year, Alexander &CO.’

Inde Awards

Shortlist, The Social Space, Imperial Hotel

Inde Awards

Shortlist, The Design Studio, Alexander &CO.

Belle Coco Republic Interior Design Awards

Finalist, Hospitality Interior, Burleigh Pavilion

2018

Dezeen

Shortlist, Emerging Interior Designer Of The Year, Alexander &CO.

Surface Awards

Shortlist, Best International Restaurant, Sean Connolly at Dubai Opera

Frame Awards

Winner, Hospitality Restaurant of the Year, Sean Connolly at Dubai Opera

Eat Drink Design Awards

Shortlist, Best Restaurant Design, Park House Food & Liquor

Shortlist, Best Bar Design, Imperial Hotel

Shortlist, Best Bar Design, East Village Hotel

Interior Design Excellence Awards (Idea)

Shortlist, Best International Project, Sean Connolly at Dubai Opera

Shortlist, Best Hospitality Project, Stanton & Co

Shortlist, Best Hospitality Project, Park House Food & Liquor

Belle Coco Republic Interior Design Awards

Winner, Interior Designer of the Year, Jeremy Bull for Alexander &CO.

Winner, Best Residential Interior Design, Palm Beach

Winner, Best Hospitality Interior, Sean Connolly at Dubai Opera

Australian Interior Design Awards

Shortlist, Residential Category, Palm Beach Project

Winner, Hospitality Category, Sean Connolly at Dubai Opera

Winner, Best International Design, Sean Connolly at Dubai Opera

International Restaurant and Bar Design Awards

Winner, Best Overall International Restaurant, Sean Connolly at Dubai Opera

Winner, Best Restaurant Middle East and Africa, Sean Connolly at Dubai Opera

Thank you