Archrival, a collaboration between Custom Mad and Lucy Humphrey Studio, designed the pavilions as a pair.  Sitting opposite each other, the pavilions are illuminated at night, the glowing polycarbonate facade offering a way through the park.

Parry Park, like many sites in Western Sydney, was a place of early colonial invasion of Dhurug Country. Today, the site is a contaminated floodplain, so honouring and repairing Country through collecting, reusing and restoring water became a focus for the project.

Between the pavilions sits Rise, a finely crafted sandstone sculpture by Yuwaalaraay woman and artist, Lucy Simpson, created in collaboration with Archrival and Copy Nature Office.

Isla’s Place is a celebration of inner city living, greenery and family. When looking over the meadow-like rooftop garden, it's hard to believe the home is 5km from Sydney's CBD.

Originally an early 1900's workers cottage, the home has been transformed into a three bedroom family home. From the lounge room one can watch the moon track across the eastern sky.

   

 


This family home was expanded by different owners over a 50 year period to a point where a lot of odd decisions clashed and the overall house was a mixture of styles and quality.

However the heart of the home - the kitchen and sandstone fireplace were in great condition. So all our design decisions centred around these spaces.


We wanted to make a series of changes that kept as much of the building as possible but created maximum impact. The first critical design decision was to simplify the rear living space, which was generously sized, but it had low ceilings and a poor connection to the garden. The new space has high ceilings and the huge doors can be left open in most weather due to a new  awning overhead (photo to compliment).

The second step was to fit the house more snugly amongst the other beautiful homes on Isabella Street. The original garage had a very high and imposing wall at the street, so we removed this and added a pitched roof to mirror the home opposite. (photo to compliment).

The final step was to create delight in the home - from the plywood walk-in wardrobe and tiny bathrooms, to the epic sliding doors to the pool. (photos to compliment).

 

Wanting a place to stay on her frequent visits from London, Elaine came to Custom Mad with a specific idea - please convert my carport into a studio! Getting the car out of the carport was impossible, so she wasn’t too bothered about losing it. Elaine just wanted to spend her time in Sydney with family and they lived in the main terrace, so this seemed like a perfect solution!


Laneway studios are common in Sydney’s inner west, but they always bring special challenges. For Elaine’s place, these came in the form of mysterious subterranean pipes! We couldn’t build over them, but luckily as an ongoing collaborator, Elaine knew we would come up with a clever solution. We worked together to create 25 square metres of sleeping, eating and bathing spaces whilst maintaining the size of the beautiful courtyard. The courtyard is the only outdoor living space for both the house and studio, and because of the lovely outlook to old Eucalypt trees, it feels much more like the suburbs than 2kms from Sydney’s CBD.

Our solution was to squeeze in as much ceiling height as the neighbours and Council would allow, and sneak in a tiny bathroom - the smallest bathroom we’ve ever made! Then, using large sliding doors, which could slide to the left or right, the studio space doubled in size, opening directly north to the courtyard. New travertine pavers were laid inside and outside, to encourage the spaces to be used together.


The next move was critical. We had to find a builder that could ensure the design worked seamlessly. We were looking for a builder who had the patience and skill to build on such a small site…and who didn’t cost the earth! 


George McGarry proved to be the perfect builder for the project. His team focussed on interior details whilst balancing site restrictions, like those pesky underground pipes! In September 2019, Elaine made her first visit to the studio. She’s looking forward to returning for Christmas and spending afternoons in the courtyard with her grandchildren, looking out onto those beautiful old Eucalypts.

Designed whilst at Sam Crawford Architects, this home was completed in 2013. From a gorgeous kitchen to a terrace overlooking the ocean, this beautifully positioned home was made for a large family and future grandchildren. Natural materials like recycled timber, limestone and sandstone make every visitor feel at home too.

Created in partnership with  Yuwaalaraay designer Lucy Simpson in collaboration with Archrival, Grandmother Tree references the meeting of the grandmother tree (angophora) and grandfather sun (sunset). Positioned on the Barangaroo headland, Grandmother Tree is a dramatic invitation to converge and explore the iconic harbour front setting in a different light, while considering place and the natural environment. Grandmother Tree was commissioned by Barangaroo Delivery Authority.

In 2007, whilst at Sam Crawford Architects, Claire was project architect for this north Bondi cottage. The owners -  a creative couple with young children, loved their fragrant garden and wanted more space for their growing family. By creating a  parents retreat on the second level, using a stair void and suspended plywood staircase to light south facing rooms, the house’s character is accented.

Chipped ceramics, broken furniture & jewellery, damaged appliances and torn textiles were submitted by the public in 2016 and reimagined by designers including Trent Jansen, Henry Wilson and Alison Jackson.  Inspired by these mending processes, Claire created a suite of exhibition furniture, where each precious object was placed on navy velvet. Object Therapy is a national touring exhibition produced by the Australian Design Centre and developed by Hotel Hotel in collaboration with UNSW Art & Design and  ANU School of Art and Design.

Running down the centre of RaRa is a 14m long concrete bench - part bar, part kitchen, and every part for slurping ramen..

This 28-seater eatery was created for Katie Shortland and Scott Gault, who were trained in Japan by ramen masters. There’s even a 380kg Yamoto machine imported from Japan - yup, the noodles are made inhouse daily. Yum.

The izakaya-style eatery takes its design cues from Japanese microbreweries and cafes. Think warm timber accents, a slight industrial edge and full-length windows to capture the noodle-making magic unfolding in the open kitchen.

Plus the pink neon light installation by Nani Puspasari to encourage a beer on the side.

Designed by Archrival, Arena Calcetto was one of six works in the Australian Pavilion’s exhibition entitled ‘Formations: New Practices in Australian Architecture’. The works transformed the forecourt of the Australian Pavilion into a competitive arena. From 2013 to 2014 Arena Calcetto returned to Sydney and toured to Paddington Reservoir Gardens, Pirrama Park and The Rocks. In Sydney, the project was supported by the City of Sydney and the Sydney Foreshore Authority.

In 2009, Claire was approached by a young couple to renovate their Leichhardt house and make enduring space for their growing family. The house is now a home for a family of five - a place of lots of noise, of shared joys and stresses.

Together with JOC Consulting and Archrival, Claire designed public art pop-ups along the Light Rail construction corridor. We created over 50 objects to occupy spaces along the future public transport route and collaborated with local artists to create canvas that zigzag throughout the route. From Surry Hills, to George Street, Haymarket, Kingsford and UNSW, Zigzag adapts to each village, commissioning local creatives to create murals for the zigzag canvas. ZigZag was commissioned by Transport for NSW’s CBD Coordination Office for the CBD and South East Light Rail Activation Program.

Cementing the Centre’s position as Sydney’s leading centre for design exhibitions and education programs, Claire secured this new venue whilst Head of Programs at Australian Design Centre. Bolstering Darlinghurst’s creative community, Claire appointed Those Architects and lead the team to transform the car showrooms into a series of exhibition, event and office spaces.

Photos by Vincent Buret and Brett Boardman. Courtesy of the Australian Design Centre

Drawing on the rapidly evolving world of 3D printing, the designers in the exhibition began with a real world idea. That idea is translated into a digital something – a piece of code, a CAD model or perhaps a verse of music – before being transformed into something entirely new. Featuring Louis Pratt, Michael Eden, Lousje Skala, Ryan Pennings, Dr David Ackland, Lukasz Karluk, and XYZ Workshop. Shapeshifters is a national touring exhibition produced by the Australian Design Centre.

Whilst at Sam Crawford Architects, Claire developed a series of tiny parks in parking bays along Foster Street in Sydney’s Surry Hills. We knew that Foster Street was a burgeoning neighbourhood, and we’d always bump into our friends and colleagues in the street - but the footpaths were simply too narrow for relaxed conversations.

Wanting to improve our neighbourhood, we side-stepped a formal footpath widening application and instead temporary filled three parking spaces with outdoor seating and edible plants. Foster Street is now lined with creative industries, galleries, cafés, bars and design showrooms. In 2016 the City of Sydney conducted permanent improvements to the street, including rainwater gardens and footpath widening - no doubt encouraged by the parklet’s positive reception in 2014.