Photography: Courtesy of Alexander & Co
24 / 11 / 2022
They are a working community consisting of architects and designers who believe in the spirit of a place and who create beautiful, timeless spaces with a purpose.
Tess Glasson and Jeremy Bull were the original founders of Alexander & Co, but they don’t ever speak just for themselves. Here, it is the whole that makes the difference and the spirit of collaboration that leads to success.
Ana Rita Sevilha: When you founded Alexander & Co, what did you have in mind and what was the main purpose? Jeremy Bull: It was a whole big set of purposes, and also some straightforward needs. I suppose I thought I could “do better”, but then again that sounds like a cliché. Ultimately, I wanted to start a practice that was built on my own values, that cared deeply about relationships, transparency and opportunity. The beginning was a reaction to what I knew and didn’t want to continue doing, which was related to things that had bothered me in my previous years of work. From then on, the purposes, or our big ‘why’, grew in scale and maturity.
“We believe in the spirit of the place. Is the so-called genius loci always the starting point in your projects? What other factors are essential or inspire you in the development of your work? I honestly think there are countless ways of addressing a brief. The creative process is like that, it offers countless answers, and each of us will resonate with a place, a request or a client in different ways. But when done well, understanding those factors and allowing them to be expressed through us is like alchemy. Letting a creative resolution materialise from the ether of possibility is a bit like allowing your ‘spirit’ in. But there are obviously key parts that comprise this. And they are the place, the context, the climate, the client themselves and so on. And then there are the parts of the process that are our poetics, our narratives. We mix all these factors together!
Ana Rita Sevilha: When you founded Alexander & Co, what did you have in mind and what was the main purpose? Jeremy Bull: It was a whole big set of purposes, and also some straightforward needs. I suppose I thought I could “do better”, but then again that sounds like a cliché. Ultimately, I wanted to start a practice that was built on my own values, that cared deeply about relationships, transparency and opportunity. The beginning was a reaction to what I knew and didn’t want to continue doing, which was related to things that had bothered me in my previous years of work. From then on, the purposes, or our big ‘why’, grew in scale and maturity.
“We believe in the spirit of the place. Is the so-called genius loci always the starting point in your projects? What other factors are essential or inspire you in the development of your work? I honestly think there are countless ways of addressing a brief. The creative process is like that, it offers countless answers, and each of us will resonate with a place, a request or a client in different ways. But when done well, understanding those factors and allowing them to be expressed through us is like alchemy. Letting a creative resolution materialise from the ether of possibility is a bit like allowing your ‘spirit’ in. But there are obviously key parts that comprise this. And they are the place, the context, the climate, the client themselves and so on. And then there are the parts of the process that are our poetics, our narratives. We mix all these factors together!
Alexander House ©Anson Smart
Dover Heights
Genovese Coffee
Bondi Junction ©Anson Smart
You believe that exceptional design changes the world directly. Based on that assumption, what impact do you think design and architecture has on the way people interact with others and their surroundings? Everything that exists is an intention that is made real. Thoughts that become things. Surely that’s how everything grows and improves; we have improved thoughts, we have better intentions, we build better things. I think that, essentially, we can build better, more sustainable, more beautiful, more lasting buildings, but we can also achieve this through better intentions, more love, more affinity and consideration for each other.
Lo&CO Woollahra ©Anson Smart
Oak House
Spotted Gum House
Woolwich Pier Hotel ©Tom Ferguson
For more information, visit Alexander & Co website.