Let’s Talk Interiors: ArchiPro kicks off new series with award-winning Alexander &CO
Written by
16 May 2022
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4 min read
At ArchiPro our vision is to empower humanity to build better spaces by connecting people with trusted professionals, showcasing inspiring projects, and making it easy to access quality products. Architects and interior designers are key to creating exceptional spaces, and in this series we go behind the scenes with some of Australia's best!
In ArchiPro’s Let’s Talk Interiors film series, standout Australian architects, stylists and designers share how they create beautiful spaces, work with clients and come up with impressive designs that stand the test of time.
In Episode 1, Steve Cordony meets Alexander &CO director Jeremy Bull at the design firm’s stunning Sydney studio, Alexander House.
Alexander &CO, lauded for creating stunning, timeless interiors, is at the forefront of Australian design. During the filmed interview, Jeremy shares what defines the Alexander &CO style, client journey, and interior scheme approach.
What defines the Alexander &CO style?
Jeremy launched Alexander &CO in 2011, and has since worked on numerous projects ranging from hotels and restaurants to high-end homes. He says the architecture and interior design studio’s style has evolved over time.
While each is beautifully detailed and unique, Jeremy says sustainability underpins every project the team takes on. “The work that we've done has evolved and changed but really, the idea of things being timeless has been one of our core values since pretty early on,” Jeremy tells Steve during the filming of Let’s Talk Interiors.
While each project is influenced by classicism and neoclassicism, Jeremy also strives to bring in enough modernity “that the world can keep going and not be so ‘of a time’.”
That timeless approach extends to the details and materials Alexander &CO uses, whether in a decadent interior or to create a striking exterior. Opting for solid materials over veneer, for example, ensures a home takes on character and patina over time rather than looking tired and worn as the years pass by.
“You see that in all the kind of work that we do … the aging and the wearing doesn't detract from the product, it adds to it.”
How do you approach an interior scheme?
While many designers begin with a mood board to begin mapping out the colours, materials and fabrics to be used in a project, Jeremy and his team begin with words.
“In all the work that we do, there is a high degree of written content,” Jeremy says. “We write a lot of words before we bring any materials together.”
The risk in starting with a collection of images to inspire the look and feel of a project is that a designer can end up reproducing someone else’s work, he says.
“There's a kind of tension in that: how do you become reverential without becoming just referential, which is using other people's content.”
Starting with words, then moving on to materials, images and mood boards is a process of innovation, Jeremy says, and the team strives to “come up with something that doesn't necessarily have a newness to it but a specificity to it particular to the house and the client and the site”.
How do you successfully work with clients?
Having won numerous residential and commercial design awards and established an enviable reputation, Alexander &CO is understandably in demand. “The first thing is to only bring clients in at the beginning who we have a very strong feeling are able to follow our process and who want to follow our process and have come to us for us,” Jeremy says.
Once a project is taken on, collaboration is key to its success. “What we're then trying to do is create a process which is built around what we call the client journey,” Jeremy explains. “The client journey has enough slowness and enough conversation that we're able to build empathy, we're able to understand them, we were able to not rush them, and we're able to then communicate back to them through our own process visually that we hear what they're saying.”
If you loved our first episode of Let's Talk Interiors, stay tuned for more. On Episode 2, Steve Cordony talks to the talented duo behind sophisticated interior design studio Arent & Pyke.
Words by Joanna Tovia