Cera Stribley Architects, Melbourne: Timeless, Fun, Sophisticated.

Cera Stribley Architects are the new kids on the block in Melbourne. Launched just three and a half years ago, the practice Founders Domenic Cerantonio and Chris Stribley were just 29 years old when they started the practice. 

“In Australia, most architects have at least 15 years’ experience before they start their own firm. We just thought let’s do it,” says Cerantonio. “We always thought our biggest downfall would be our age. It has ended up being the opposite. There were a lot of younger people looking for someone different and closer to their age to work with. Even now as we move into bigger projects they are usually with younger clients and developers.” 

It’s not just young clients the practice is attracting – all the staff are also under the age of 40. Cerantonio adds: “We have a young culture – it suits our brand and our image. We are a fun practice. We really try to stress that we want to make a really social and engaging practice. We try to take everyone out for lunch every second Friday. Everyone gets along really well.” 

Since starting, the practice has grown significantly and now employs 15 staff from its office based in an old New York warehouse-style building on Chapel Street. 

For Cerantonio, who gets his inspiration from architects like Bjarke Ingels, David Chipperfield, and Herzog and de Meuron, there are hopes to keep growing. “We’d like to get to somewhere between 50 and 80 staff,” he comments. His plans include diversifying the workload, but it isn’t easy. 

“Any developer has to put a lot of faith in a young architect,” says Cerantonio. The practice’s completed projects are mainly one-off houses. It is currently on site with an apartment building, but it is beginning to pick up larger commercial work.