Underbridge competition Honorable mention winner - Thierry Lacoste

We’d like to take the opportunity to introduce you to the Honorable mention winners of our "Underbridge" competition – Thierry Lacoste from Australia!

 
Thierry Lacoste

Please tell us about your company (when it was founded, where it is based, how many employees, etc) Alternatively, if you do not have a company, please give us some insights on your own professional/academia background.

Lacoste + Stevenson Architects is an award-winning architectural practice based in Sydney established by Thierry Lacoste and David Stevenson in 1997. The directors lead a design studio that is creative and highly skilled in design and building delivery. The practice provides full Architectural Design Services across a broad range of project types including Urban Design, Public, Multi-Residential, Educational and Industrial.

Lacoste+Stevenson advocate for minimal and rational architecture that is imbued with joy and delight. Their work foregrounds ‘atmosphere’ as a design strategy that generates an emotional response through spatial design, texture and materiality. Sustainable and equitable design is a key driver in all projects which are to be accessible and welcoming to all, healthy buildings to occupy, and connected to the landscape.

Brief information about the projects that you/your company have been involved with. For instance, what scale have you focused on/preferred, any significant projects where the company/ individuals have been Involved?

Lacoste + Stevenson Architects have worked on a wide range of projects from artworks to new schools and libraries and large industrial warehouses.  Public and educational architecture have been the firm’s core work allowing to design and deliver architecture of delight for all.

The studio’s most significant projects include the new Parramatta Library (Phive), the Shellharbour Hub – Library and Council building and the Ultimo Public School a new primary school in a high-density Sydney suburb.

What does architecture mean to you and what is the role of an architect in your society?

Architecture describes our history, culture and diversity.  It has a responsibility to acknowledge it’s context, the land on which it is built, the climate in which it is located. Architecture also reveals how equitable a place is. The role of an Architect is to be responsible to the conditions of place, the land, the built environment in which it is located.  It is also to be sustainable, to take less and give more.

Why do you participate in architecture competitions?

Competitions often provide the opportunity to design for places and specific needs that may not ordinarily arise in a client brief.  Competitions are a great way for architecture studios to challenge their thinking about architecture’s role and or contribution to society. To think big and to see ourselves as an agent for positive change. It is also an important exercise to test a firm’s ability to respond to a brief and compare their proposal to their peers.

What advice would you give to individuals who struggle to decide whether it would be beneficial for them to participate in architecture competitions?

Competitions are a unique opportunity to challenge a firms approach to architecture design and potentially to even provide access to significant new work.

It is by participating in open international competitions that Lacoste + Stevenson Architects started our office! When you win, it is a big boost.