iredale pedersen hook architects is an internationally acclaimed design practice based in Perth and Melbourne, Australia. The studio is renowned for its innovative approach across a very broad range of projects that are underpinned by critical thinking, stakeholder engagement and comprehensive project research.
Actively led by Founding Partners Adrian, Finn and Martyn, each with over 25 years of experience, the studio is driven by design excellence and is passionate about how architecture can make a positive impact on people’s lives and contribute to Australian communities, towns and cities.
Since formation in 1999, iredale pedersen hook architects has created an expansive and significant body of work throughout Australia. Working in urban, regional and remote locations, each of our projects embodies a unique design response to the landscape and to the context it occupies. We are globally recognised for our work with Indigenous communities throughout Western Australia.
We are motivated by a belief that all people should have access to excellent affordable design in their homes, workplaces, schools, recreational and cultural precincts and have built a reputation for delivering projects with a focus of triple-bottom-line sustainable design – that is, environmental, social and economic sustainability.
Our ambition for design excellence is most effectively demonstrated through our success in multiple Australian and international architecture award programs and the ongoing presence of our projects in the global architecture media. iredale pedersen hook have won over 200 awards for our projects, our work has been published internationally and exhibited in Tokyo, Berlin, Seoul, Stockholm, Moscow, Toronto, New York and London, and we have been selected to represent Australia on numerous occasions at The Venice Biennale of Architecture.
iredale pedersen hook architecture approach each new project with fresh eyes, open ears and alert minds to create a significant and meaningful outcome each and every time.
Our breadth of experience across many building typologies in a diversity of context is a clear indication of the durability of our design approach such that we are able to achieve exceptional outcomes for our clients and the community. Our design approach is not fixed nor methodological, it adapts to the sensitivities of each project and is agile in its process.
Our projects are all driven by 5 core design principles;
A “Whole of Team” Partnership
We ensure that the Client, stakeholders, occupants, and specialist sub-disciplines work together as an effective team and share the same understanding of goals and outcomes for the project.
An understanding of local context
Through careful observation and research we seek to understand local patterns of living and working, the micro-climate, and ideas of site from this study we are able to respond to the often diverse needs of end users, visitors and communities as a whole.
Sensible and Appropriate Sustainability
Through incorporating and implementing environmentally sustainable design principles as an integral part of the building fabric, we ensure that each project maintains its ESD capabilities throughout their life cycle, and can continue to provide comfort to the users, and minimal environmental impact.
Buildability
We listen to local trades and builders and work closely with them to ensure at the outset that our design decisions and documentation are compatible with locally available trade skills and available materials. We programme the works and interrogate construction sequencing to ensure consistency with project milestones.
Enduring and Appropriate Design
Our projects seek to engage with the local context through material and built form but also how they respond to existing situations, patterns of use and impact of climate.
We design our projects to be flexible and adaptable with the knowledge that requirements may change and the architecture should be robust enough to accommodate new occupants or altered conditions.
Through the application of these 5 core principles we see clear and transparent objectives emerge through the Design process that allow the client to be a present, effective contributor to the resolution and ultimate delivery of an outstanding piece of architecture or community infrastructure.
Our experience in working across a broad range of project typologies with complex constraints and challenging briefs has enabled the studio to quickly realise the critical role that collaboration plays in the creation, development and procurement of responsive, cost effective and sustainable architectural design.
Our inherently collaborative approach understands the necessity for full stakeholder engagement, prefaces the act of listening are the first step in the design process and acknowledges the importance of all contributions from consultants, industry professionals, user group and community consultation.
We enjoy working in dynamic environments particularly when they include working with artists, landscape architects, community partners and engaged client groups.
iredale pedersen hook has built a reputation for delivering projects with a focus of triple-bottom-line sustainable design - that is, environmental, social and economic sustainability. We promote sensible and appropriate sustainability principles by incorporating and implementing environmentally responsive design as an integral part of the building fabric.
With a core focus on design for climate and context, we ensure that each project maintains ESD capabilities throughout its life cycle, and can continue to provide comfort to the users, and minimise any environmental impact over time.
We investigate micro-climate analysis, energy use and fossil fuel elimination alongside research into material sources and lifecycle cost analysis. Over the past decade we have developed a national reputation for economical and appropriate sustainable design that have been recognised through winning multiple international and national awards.
iredale pedersen hook architects is regarded as a design studio that has developed a high degree of Cultural Competency under the leadership of the three Directors. Cultural Competency is an essential skill required for consultants working with Aboriginal people in Australia- and is developed though the practical application of meeting, listening, empathising and understanding people from Aboriginal communities.
This competency acknowledges peoples’ histories, recognising that all Aboriginal people and societies are not the same, and will have different protocols, aspirations and goals. We understand the need to develop an environment of mutual trust and that engagement should be led by the community and, seek to assist in the healing, truth telling and removing inequalities between Aboriginal and non-indigenous societies.
The IPH leadership and team members understand both the theory and the direct application of Cultural Competence through many projects in regional and remote Western Australia.
Our ambition for design excellence is most effectively demonstrated through our consistent recognition in National and International Architecture Award programs and the ongoing presence of our projects in the global architecture media.
Over the past 20 years iredale pedersen hook have won over 150 awards for our projects, our work has been exhibited in Tokyo, Berlin, Seoul, Moscow, Toronto, New York and London, and we have been selected to represent Australia on numerous occasions at the pinnacle of international architecture exhibitions; The Venice Biennale. The awards the studio receives are arich mixture of ‘Peer Review’ through the Australian Institute of Architects AIA, Global awards programs such as the World Architecture Festival and peoples choice or consumer/user voting.
Our design work continues to be published internationally in significant architectural magazines including A+U (Japan), The Architectural Review (UK), Abitare (Italy), Domus (Italy), Architecture Australia, and Habitus. We are also a constant feature on the world’s most read architecture media blogs ArchDaily, Dezeen and ArchitectureAU. Adrian, Finn and regularly invited to present the work of the studio at international and national conferences, symposiums and at Universities around the globe.
The Walumba Elders Centre has been particularly successful including recently being awarded 2017 American Architecture Prize in Healthcare Architecture, 2016Architecture of Necessity award (Sweden), the AZ Awards for ‘Social Good’ (Canada),2015 BPN National Sustainability Awards(Australia) “Best of the Best” and the 2015World Architecture Festival (WAF) HealthAward effectively declaring it the “best health building in the world”.
Also West Kimberley Regional Prison won the 2013 National AIA David Oppenheim Award for Sustainable Architecture (with TAG Architects). And most recently our first major health project, the Fitzroy Crossing Renal Facility was presented with the 2017 international Dulux Grand Prix Colour Award and 2018 World Architecture Festival Color Award.
Of particular note, the Architecture of Necessity Award is an international triennial competition for sustainable community building. It is open to buildings or city and community planning projects of all sizes, especially concerning regenerating townships, upgrading of housing estatesand projects which discourage abandoning the countryside, more flexible housingand where social issues are addressed. Winners of the award fulfill the manifesto of an ‘Architecture of Necessity’ that is, they are responsible, diligent, sustainable, just, and open.
