Warren and Mahoney Design Biennial
The intent of Warren and Mahoney's studio biennial is to challenge, provoke and inspire; to raise awareness of work occurring beyond individual horizons and to build a sense of pride in collective achievement. It is a tactile record of your contribution - its weight and substance carries meaning. It feels at once exhilarating and exhausting.
This publication takes a broad view of design, and is structured to reflect the varied phases of our process - from ideation to implementation. At Warren and Mahoney, we are all creatives. Design encompasses everything that we do - conceptual ideas, technical execution, strategy and communication. Design is a broad and inclusive belief rather than a narrow concept.
While this biennial is illustrated with the efforts of the last 24 months - its fundamental purpose is forward looking - to continue to challenge the stasis of the status quo, and to inspire us all to innovate and evolve within our area of expertise. To set new benchmarks for quality and creativity for our peers to aspire to exceed.
The implicit construct of design practice at scale is the understanding that individual achievement occurs within a collective frame. The opportunity of working on projects of influence, impact, and meaning is brought about by a broad effort of talented individuals working to their strengths in collaboration with our clients. In this design biennial we celebrate each individual’s contribution to the whole.
Compressing the last 24 months of effort into a single document is a powerful reminder of the aggregated creative power of our practice. What is evident is the increasing influence of our Australian studios, the continued provocative storytelling of our workplace and interior work, the opportunity of digital design to reshape our workflows, and our expanding creative range expressed through spatial graphics and brand development.
This design biennial sits within a wider continuum of practice. Collectively, the rhythm of individual publications over time will describe our evolution into an international design practice of influence. We are currently working on exciting projects throughout the Pacific Rim - Japan, Chile, Tonga, Australia and New Zealand. We are designing buildings, brands, and experiences. We are working for global technology innovators, we are working in partnership with indigenous cultures, we are collaborating with international design leaders and we are designing the next generation of sustainable buildings. We are bringing to life our strategy.
As architects and designers our role is always to look around the arc of the visible future, to anticipate the unknown needs of our future communities. At heart we are an ‘idea-led’ design practice - we seek the transformational idea which lies within each brief. Our design process is carefully designed to seek out this truth and our clients rely on us to uncover it.
Looking beyond the present, our work carries the responsibility to contribute to solving the biggest challenge of our time. We have been certified CarbonZero in our operations for 14 years. The next horizon requires addressing the impacts of our work. We have committed to significant carbon reduction targets in our 2030 climate commitment. To deliver on this commitment we will place social and environmental sustainability at the core of our design process. We will challenge each other to challenge our clients to deliver for future generations.
Blair Johnston
Principal
