Where residential architecture begins with listening
Written by
11 March 2026
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4 min read
For Chan Architecture, residential design has always been about more than simply making buildings. It is about people, place and the accumulation of thoughtful decisions that shape how a home is experienced over time. Founded 18 years ago by Anthony Chan, the Melbourne-based practice has built a body of work grounded in site responsiveness, careful listening and a deeply personal approach to architecture.
Chan established the studio after working in several larger, established practices, but was drawn to the autonomy that comes with working independently. “I really wanted to focus on residential work,” he says. “I always liked the idea of work that is very personal and very thoughtful and site responsive.” Starting his own practice allowed Chan to define not only the scale of projects he would pursue, but also the values that would underpin them.
That ethos continues to guide the studio’s approach today. While the practice has delivered a diverse range of homes, each project is treated as a unique proposition rather than a repeatable formula. There is no singular aesthetic or signature architectural gesture applied across projects. Instead, each design is conceived through a process of careful observation, conversation and testing, informed equally by the site and the client.
One project that Chan feels encapsulates this approach is Bush House in McCrae, a long-running and deeply collaborative commission for a couple seeking a modest retreat immersed in the landscape.
“It was to be a very humble building and their home away from home,” Chan says. The brief was shaped by the clients’ lifestyle and values, including a prayer room and meditation space for the wife, a Zen Buddhist monk, and accommodation for visiting teachers. Over time, the home became a vessel for the couple’s collection of Asian antiques gathered through years of travel.
The process was neither quick nor straightforward. Spanning close to eight years, the project evolved through multiple iterations, responding to a steeply sloping site, bushfire constraints and expansive ocean views. For Chan, the longevity of the process was integral to its success.
“We got to know the client really well and understand their philosophy and the way they live and what they really wanted to achieve in the house,” he says. “The second thing was the really unique site as well, with views of the hills, the trees and the ocean.”
The result was a home shaped as much by relationship and time as by architecture.
This emphasis on listening sits at the heart of the studio’s creative process. Each project begins with in-depth conversations about how clients live and how they want to use their spaces. “We do a lot of listening, a lot of sharing of images and understanding what they are trying to achieve and how they use spaces,” Chan explains.
Daily rituals, hobbies and living patterns are critical to creating a detailed brief, informing everything from spatial planning to light, orientation and material choice.
From there, ideas are tested through sketches, layouts and visualisations, gradually refined through collaboration. Chan describes the process as iterative and open-ended, with clients encouraged to define the parameters rather than propose solutions.
“Often we ask the client not to try to solve the problem, but to give us the parameters of the problem for us to try to solve it,” he says.
This back-and-forth continues through documentation and construction, with the studio remaining closely involved from concept to completion.
For Chan, a successful project is not measured by visual impact alone, but by its effect on the people who inhabit it.
“For a project to be a success, I think that the project has really brought benefit to people’s lives,” he says. “When they finally get to move in and they really enjoy their house and it improves their lives, that is what really drives us.”
It is a human-centred definition of success, that prioritises function, comfort and long-term satisfaction rather than architectural showiness. Looking ahead, the practice is focused less on expansion and more on refinement.
Growth, for Chan, is about alignment rather than scale. “It is about having better projects,” he says. “Clients who we really enjoy working with and who really appreciate the work that we do.”
