Plus Studio just completed Lagoon for Drew Group, two towers on the last uninterrupted block of land left in Main Beach on the Gold Coast. Tower one runs to 31 storeys, tower two to 23, together holding 253 apartments across a site we spent years assembling from seven separate parcels.

The brief took three years to land before we even broke ground. Drew Group's Jonathan Drew and our director Danny Juric worked through it together, not chasing a typical apartment building, but asking what resort lifestyle could actually feel like day to day. What came was a pair of towers shaped by the coastline itself, their northern and southern faces staggering into an undulating rhythm so each apartment gets its own read of the water and hinterland, rather than a repeated floor plate simply stamped up the building. A lagoon-shaped pool ties the towers together at podium level, and fifteen storeys up, a second shared level repeats that same outlook with work-from-home suites, lounges and terraces of its own.

What makes this project special is its attainability. Plus Studio has designed some of the most luxurious residential products across Australia, and it's been an honour to help define what ultra-luxe living looks like, especially on the Gold Coast. At Lagoon, we took the same design thinking behind that end of the market and applied it at a more attainable price point, so the hyper-coastal lifestyle doesn't have to look or feel any less considered. For an architect, sometimes the most challenging projects are the most enjoyable, and this was one of them.

This is the scale of project we want to be known for on the coast, and we've heard directly from the Hutchinson team on site that this is among the highest quality builds they've delivered. That's not incidental. We stayed involved as architects right through construction with Pezet Matheson and Hutchinson, rather than handing over drawings and stepping back, and that continuity shows in the finished building.

Sable House is a considered renovation and extension located in Gisborne, about an hour from Melbourne, in the Macedon ranges. The vision was to create a house that feels sophisticated yet deeply liveable. A sanctuary where thoughtful design enhances everyday life. Rather than relying on excess, the project celebrates restraint, craftsmanship and material integrity, creating spaces that are both visually impactful and quietly calming.

Sable House began with a simple but underrated observation: bigger doesn't necessarily mean better. The existing house already occupied an extraordinary site, yet it wasn't taking advantage of it. The landscape felt disconnected, the arrival sequence lacked purpose, and many of the spaces were dysfunctional.

Every project begins by understanding the real problem. Often, the brief clients present is not the brief they actually need solved. Our role is to look beyond the obvious, uncover the emotional brief beneath the practical one, and challenge assumptions before drawing solutions. With Sable House, that meant resisting the temptation to simply add more area and instead improving the way the existing house functioned.

The project reflects our belief that architecture, interiors and landscape should never be designed independently. People experience a single place, not separate professional disciplines. When those boundaries are blurred, every decision reinforces the next, creating a house that feels resolved, cohesive and complete.

Sable House demonstrates that better living comes from better thinking, not simply more space. More importantly, it reflects our belief that the most successful architecture and design resonates on an emotional level, creating places that people feel deeply connected to, even if they can't always explain why.

The Biblioteca Sant Pau, a Gothic, heritage-listed building and National Historic Monument in Barcelona.

The brief only called for renovating the building's services and bathrooms. But the building needed a full rehabilitation, and I had to convince everyone involved to reorganize the entire scope around a new strategy, while still fitting within the originally assigned budget. Part of that strategy involved introducing a radiant heating and cooling system that was, at the time, being applied internationally for the first time, a genuinely delicate proposition inside a protected historic structure. What made all of this possible was turning what had been conceived as a linear process into an informal Integrated Project Delivery (IPD), getting every party genuinely invested in the final outcome rather than just their own piece of it.

Beyond the award (2012 Catalan Prize for Innovation in Construction), and beyond the fact that the library is still cited as one of Barcelona's most beautiful and striking, despite also being the most heavily used, what matters most to me is that we managed to innovate in respectful silence with the original building, entirely through dry-assembly construction, meaning every intervention is reversible and can be removed without a trace. Understanding what real innovation actually requires, and under what conditions it becomes possible, was one of the fundamental lessons of my career. Just a few days ago I saw it included again in a curated list of Barcelona's best libraries, and watching it age this well, still ahead of its time 15 years on, is exactly what made me want to bring it to this panel now.

"the loop" is a proposal to link major cities in the north of england together with edinburgh and glasgow then across the sea to belfast and dublin then back round to liverpool and manchester. The Northern Powerhouse has been talked about for many years and this is one radical but possible solution. Having spent most of my career designing transport infrastructure and associated projects this was developed to demonstrate a solution where cities work together developing individual centres of excellence rather than competing for the same investment.

Like most major projects it is controversial but I was not expecting the level of vitriol that comes with social media. I took comfort that the Victorians built 30 times more railway in a 25 year period - which shows how low our level of ambition has fallen. Luckily most people took it for what it is a provocation of the germ of an idea and have been constructive and encouraging. I've since presented the scheme alongside the engineer Andy Downey to a NCE Conference and it has won a World Architecture Festival Futures Award.

I've always admired architects who challenge and provoke.(Archigram, Cedric Price, Future Systems) I was 13 when Neil Armstrong walked on the moon and that was such a seminal moment. Programmes like "Tommorow's World"were full of optimism for the future. As a teenager I was interested in how the world was changing particularly in how we would travel between and around our cities and now those changes are accelerating with great benefits to the environment. So the loop is a provocation to use new technology to solve political, social and economic problems.

The full refurbishment of 99 Queen Victoria Street in the City of London.

The original office building was completed in 2004 and was a great building of its time. It became vacant during the ghastly Covid period which raised all sorts of questions about the future of office buildings and what would be needed to encourage people back to the office rather than working from home.

The existing structure was innovative – post tensioned concrete which minimised structural depths and allowed the building to slide inches beneath the St Paul's grid and thereby maximise the internal volume. Sophisticated cladding allows maximum light penetration and views out of what is quite a restricted site, whilst maintaining good thermal and acoustic performance. 15,000 sq ft floor plates align perfectly with market demand.

Our design sought to make the building irresistible to modern day office occupiers.

The new entrance creates an interesting, contemporary, light filled space where people will want to spend time as well as move through.

The originally discrete entrance door has been replaced with an elegant metal portico lined with lit stainless steel mesh.

Internally a series of linked terrazzo platforms represent a graceful entry sequence to the reception desk and lift lobby.

Materials are light and contemporary with terrazzo and timber flooring, timber wall cladding and fabric paneled ceilings calming acoustics in the space. Red leather clad handrails introduce a sculptural element into the space.

Geometric patterning within the terrazzo flooring defines areas – reception desk, lift lobby, breakout/waiting space.

At level 4, a sky lounge introduces a flexible event/break out space to take advantage of the location and views.

The glass clad corner of the building faces towards the heart of the City of London and the view is a montage of the history of the city. St Nicholas Cole Abbey sits opposite and reminds us of the long history of the area. Dating from the 12th Century the building was burnt down in 1666 in the Great Fire of London and then rebuilt by Sir Christopher Wren before being severely damaged during the Blitz in 1940. It was finally restored in 1961-2 and sits majestically overlooking a calm area of public realm. Further along the street, Bracken House was built in the 1950's on a bomb site and is a Grade 2* building. It underwent a significant remodeling in the late 1980's and is the home of the Financial Times.

The Leadenhall Street cluster of tall buildings sits as a fitting backdrop, signifying the ever-changing profile of the City and its importance in the economic well being of the UK.

A stunning roof terrace enjoys outstanding views across London and St Paul's.

High quality, flexible office space is a given.

The building sits a stone's throw from the Upper Thames Street cycle super-highway and cycle parking in the building could not be easier.

The changing facilities and a wellness/yoga facility reflect the interior design theme established in the entrance hall – contemporary and elegant. The well planned and equipped areas give the impression that the user is in a high quality sports club.

Our design for the building has made it a superb sustainable office environment which achieves BREEAM "Outstanding" certification, EPC "A" rating, reduction of Primary Energy Demand of 50%, NABERS 5-star Energy Rating , WIREDSCORE of Platinum, rainwater harvesting, PV roof panels and green roofs within a de-gased building.

The client for the project was a "Green" fund so the brief called for a very sustainable design which carried a cost. The timing of the project coincided with the horrible spike in inflation which was particularly apparent in construction so maintaining the critical requirements of the brief, and the design quality was a challenge. Thankfully the team rose to the occasion.

The project represents the first office refurbishment the practice has undertaken for some time and is helping to reestablish our position in the office market.

We have so many beautiful projects finishing up in 2026, including Thornbury Primary School which is very dear to me and our Lt Collins St adaptive reuse project. But a recently completed project I am proud of is Market Lane Coffee Mitchell House, Lonsdale St, Melbourne.

Carefully adding a light, warm and welcoming space to a much-loved heritage building was challenging, while also making sure it was practically possible to make delicious coffee in such a tiny footprint.

This was a tiny space (13m sq) in a very beautiful building, one of the first concrete art deco buildings in Melbourne, so was a prominent building for us to intervene in and add to the history of. This is a real privilege, to add to the historic fabric of the city. It is also a building full of incredible and talented designers and architects so we knew there would be a high bar to reach! We believe the result is a space that really adds to the community feel of the building and greets you as you arrive to the foyer, with a warm bright lantern-like space. A tiny space making a big impact.

We're fortunate to have many projects we're particularly proud of, but most recently, it's Founder's Row at Southwark Grounds, the delivery of 17 new dwellings as the inaugural release in Adelaide's Next Great Neighbourhood.

As the first homes to be delivered, Founder's Row has an important role beyond its relatively modest scale. It needed to establish an architectural identity for Southwark Grounds and set a benchmark for the quality, character and liveability of the neighbourhood that will follow.

The project presented a unique challenge: to establish an architectural language specific to Southwark Grounds, while delivering the project through an extraordinarily accelerated design and construction programme, approximately one-third of a typical procurement timeframe.

From the outset, we wanted the homes to feel distinctly Southwark Grounds rather than simply applying another medium-density housing model. The design draws on the character and rich heritage of Adelaide's inner west through its massing, scale, articulation and materiality, while responding to the emerging identity of Southwark Grounds as a contemporary, connected and diverse new neighbourhood.

Importantly, that identity isn't created through repetition. The homes form a family of complementary but distinct typologies, designed to accommodate different residents, lifestyles and price points while retaining a coherent architectural language.

Achieving that level of design resolution within such a compressed programme required an incredibly agile and collaborative process between Renewal SA as the developer, the builder and the broader consultant team. Design, commercial viability, sustainability and constructability had to be considered concurrently rather than sequentially, allowing decisions to be made quickly without losing sight of the broader vision for the precinct.

There is something particularly significant about designing the first homes in a new and highly anticipated neighbourhood. They establish the benchmark for what comes next.

Founder's Row represents a major milestone for our studio, as this project contributes directly to addressing South Australia's current housing crisis by increasing housing supply, including much-needed affordable housing and new housing typologies, while demonstrating that affordability, accelerated delivery and good design do not need to be competing ambitions.

Southwark Grounds will ultimately deliver more than 1,700 new dwellings, so these first 17 homes are a relatively small part of a much bigger story. But that is precisely what makes them important. They are the first expression of the neighbourhood at a human scale, establishing a sense of place, identity and belonging from day one. They set the expectation for the community that will grow around them.

NLCS Ideas Hub and Main Entrance, for North London Collegiate School (completed April 2025)

The Ideas Hub is a new STEM building for NLCS. It also provides a new main entrance, which had been on the other side of the campus. Placing them together and at the busiest arrival point celebrates the importance of STEM to the school.

The challenge was weaving new-build elements between and linking four existing buildings, including a charming art school. We wanted to do justice to the retained old buildings, such as turning a draughty maintenance barn into a sixth form art studio (once the maintenance and estates staff had been given a new home). The new and old buildings work very well together; historic walls bring warmth and character to the new spaces, and the purpose-built specialist classrooms and breakout spaces allow the school community to teach and learn in modern ways, and see learning happening everywhere - the building as a whole is greater than the sum of its parts.

What has been wonderful about this project is seeing how well the school have embraced their new spaces. They set up a dedicated LinkedIn account called NLCS Ideas Hub and regularly post about their activities and events about STEM, innovation and the future of education. Over the Easter holidays they opened the Ideas Hub, not expecting many pupils to show up; they were overwhelmed by how many girls came to study and prepare for their exams.

Despite working with lots of schools, it's rare to have a front-row seat like this, and that's precious.