Techne Architecture + Interior Design, Melbourne: Bespoke, Creative, Align-purpose.

With its office based in Melbourne’s central business district on a street lined with restaurants and bars, Techne Director Nick Travers says this is a practice which is “tapped into the energy of the city.” 

The 35-strong office, which mainly works on hospitality space like restaurants and bars, was established 16 years ago and has grown every year since. It has almost outgrown its open-plan office and it has plans to move into a larger space. 

Talking about the plans for the new studio, Travers comments: “Our practice has matured and we want our new office to express that. Our current office is cheap and cheerful – we had less means a decade ago but now we have grown and changed. We want to create better amenities within our space – more meeting rooms and breakout areas – and we might also experiment with some agile working methods.” 

The studio structures itself around three values. The first – ‘align-purpose’ – is about the goals of the practice and the goals of those who work for it. “We are all working towards a common goal,” says Travers. 

The practice’s crafted and high quality projects fall under the second value – ‘bespoke delivery,’ while the third value ‘enabling creativity’ is based upon pursuing a creative environment where good design is the primary objective. 

Both founders came from commercial practices before establishing Techne, but here they have managed to maintain a business which isn’t top down, which has a strong culture flowing through it and where everyone feels they can contribute. 

“Everyone in the office can make a strong contribution. We provide the framework for our staff to take charge and do what they do best and we do not micro-manage. We have key people in the right positions to help us do great work,” Travers concludes.