The ‘B’ in SJB steps back after 50 years

Few architectural careers can be measured not only in buildings, but in the evolution of an entire city. After five decades at SJB, co-founder Michael Bialek has retired from his role as Director, alongside Owen Chow, his colleague of 44 years and one of the practice’s most accomplished designers.

Bialek established Synman Justin & Bialek with Alan Synman and Charles Justin on 1 April 1976. As the ‘B’ in SJB, he has remained a constant presence as the small Melbourne architecture studio grew into a multidisciplinary practice encompassing architecture, interior design, town planning and urban design.

His work traces a period of significant change in Australian architecture. Early residential projects across Melbourne, coastal and rural Victoria led to larger commercial and civic commissions, including Nissan House, which earned SJB its first architecture award in 1983. At 40 Albert Road, Bialek delivered Australia’s first office refurbishment to achieve a 6-Star Green Star Office Design rating.

Perhaps most significant was the 2006 Commonwealth Games Village. The competition-winning masterplan accommodated 6,000 athletes before being transformed into a permanent Parkville neighbourhood comprising restored heritage buildings, parkland, private residences and social housing.

Yet Bialek’s legacy extends beyond the buildings themselves. His commercial judgement, enduring client relationships and collaborative approach helped shape the culture of the practice, while his mentorship influenced generations of architects.

“The projects matter, but what I’ll carry with me are the friendships,” Bialek says.

Owen Chow’s SJB story began in 1982, when he joined the Melbourne studio as a university student and print boy, producing drawings on dyeline printers. He would go on to establish many of the foundations for the studio’s approach to tall buildings.

His projects include 580 St Kilda Road, distinguished by a curved roof sheltering a rooftop tennis court, and Clarendon Towers, which was Melbourne’s largest apartment building when completed. At 480 St Kilda Road, Chow led SJB’s first adaptive reuse of an office building into apartments, retaining the existing 10-storey structure and adding six lightweight levels above it.

Chow also worked alongside Bialek on the Commonwealth Games Village and the 12 stages of Parkville Village that followed. Since 2011, he has led the Caulfield masterplan, a 2,000-home precinct beside the racecourse.

Both Bialek and Chow will continue with SJB as consultants on select projects. Their retirement marks a changing of the guard for the practice, but their influence remains embedded in its work, its people and the fabric of Melbourne itself.

Discover more of Australia’s leading architects and the projects shaping our cities on ArchiPro.