Award Winning
Our studio is recognised for calm, resilient architecture that blends landscape, structure and climate as one system. Awards below highlight a consistent design approach: earth-sheltered forms for bushfire resilience, passive thermal mass for comfort, and considered detailing that keeps lifecycle maintenance low.
Grand Designs Australia — Best Design Concept
Melbourne, 2013 · Joint Winner
Our Whittlesea house concept was recognised for a clear structural strategy and a gentle profile that settles the building into the landscape. Using earth-sheltering principles, the design leverages thermal mass and green-roof layers to stabilise temperature, cut peak loads and create a quiet, low-energy interior. The jury praised the plan clarity and day-lit rooms achieved with minimal visual impact.
Rather than relying on bulky roof build-ups, our work uses efficient arches and vaults that operate in pure compression. This yields a thinner concrete shell, fewer finishes and robust protection against heat, UV and ember attack—without compromising everyday comfort or craft. That balance of performance and restraint threads through all of our projects.
Bushfire Building Council of Australia — Best Design Concept
December 2015 · Awarded to Sean O’Bryan & Mark Baldwin
The Council acknowledged our integrated strategy that combines passive protection (non-combustible concrete shells, earth cover, protected openings) with active resilience (measured overhangs, ember guards and low-maintenance detailing). The outcome is safe, calm living—architecture that remains comfortable on ordinary days and dependable on extraordinary ones.
We continue to share research and field lessons with councils, builders and homeowners so that resilient building becomes simpler to approve, faster to deliver and more cost-predictable across bushfire-prone regions.
Blue Mountains Bushfire Building Conference — Speaker & Case Studies
Blue Mountains, 2017
At the Blue Mountains conference we presented case studies showing how earth-sheltered envelopes, cool ground-level courts and measured overhangs can moderate radiant heat while improving day-to-day comfort. The sessions illustrated how design choices—vault geometry, low-maintenance materials and protected glazing—translate into simpler compliance pathways and better life-cycle performance for clients.
For more about the underlying strategy, see our pages on bushfire-resistant houses, concrete arches and principles of earth-sheltering.