Tony Owen Partners

Profile of Tony Owen Partners, headquartered in Australia. Eleven projects submitted by Tony Owen Partners have been published on Architecture News Plus (ANP).

: Tony Owen – © Tony Owen Partners

Principal

Tony Owen

Brief description

Elastic Approaches to Design:

Tony Owen Partners is a firm of architects taking a new approach to the issues of visualising the built environment. This approach recognises that we are increasingly dealing with a new and unprecedented set of realities and responding to a new set of imperatives. These impertives include increasing population and densities, limited resources and space, changing climate and the new realities of the global information and financial network. At the same time, technology is delivering new digital tools and capabilities which are impacting the means which architecture is realised. This includes new software, new thinking about network strategies and new means of fabrication. This is resulting in new approaches to design to deal with these issues. The result is an architecture which is ‘future focused’ in thinking, open and responsive in approach, and experimental in nature. This is an architecture which is supple and responsive, reactive to changing variables and assited by new technology.

Elastic Architecture:

As a result of these tools, we are exploring an architecture which is more responsive to the environment, We refer to this as ‘Elastic Design’. This is anchitecture that is pliant, yet has an inherent structure and ordering principle. Elastic Architecture is an architecture that is capable of responding to all manner of changing variables. This includes spatial, programatic, environmental and structural issues. We are designing spaces which expand to allow greater connectivity to the exterior environment to maximise light, air and movement flows, or retract for greater privacy and differentiation of uses. These are spaces which respond not just to program and uses, but to patterns of behaviour which change through time. We are envisioning dynamic buildings which repond to variations in inputs and relationships.

The net result of this convergence of changing conditions and evolving technology is an acceptance that old models and old thinking is insufficient, and what is required is an architecture which is future looking and forward in thinking.

Design Process:

We make extensive use of digital design tools at the earliest stages of the project. We have a close relationship to the faculty of Digital Design at UTS University in Sydney. We generally deal with 3-D computer visualisation within the first week of a design. The computer is a tool for testing forms early on and exploring the spatial potential of an idea. We foster a process based culture whereby we move through a series of formal steps arising out of the site and environmental issues, to go down a path that is beyond the ability to imagine without the computer. Above all we are focused on an approach to design based on a progression whereby every design builds on the lessons learned and the developments in technology from the last project. The cumulative result is the fostering of a design culture based on pragmatic experimentation whose field of exploration is the real world of practice. The following projects demonstrate this approach.

Published projects

: Eden Art Wall by Tony Owen Partners This apartment development explores the line between architecture and sign. This urban infill project is located in a varied and complex part of the Sydney...

: Danks Street Offices by Tony Owen Partners The new Danks and Bourke strata commercial building is a refurbishment of a 1960’s concrete furniture warehouse. It is located in the former industrial area...

: Fractal Cafe by Tony Owen Partners The Fractal Café in Sydney is located in the ground floor of the recently completed Boston University Student Housing building. The rear of BU is located on a...

: Darling Island by Tony Owen Partners Giant Fractal Jelly Fish feature in the new public areas designed by Tony Owen for one of Sydney’s premier addresses. Tony Owen Partners have just completed...

: Moebius House by Tony Owen Partners This family house faces onto views of the Sydney Opera House and Harbour Bridge. The house explores a more environmentally sensitive form of design called...

: Harley Davidson Headquarters by Tony Owen Partners The new Australian headquarters of Harley Davidson is located in Lane Cove and forms an iconic gateway to the new Lane Cove River business park. We sought to...

: Shibuya-Newtown by Tony Owen Partners A little taste of Japan in inner-city Sydney: In this design for 2 town houses in the Sydney inner-city suburb of Newtown, Tony Owen Partners looked for...

: Elandra Beach Houses by Tony Owen Partners The project is a collection of 15 stylish beach houses set in a pristine bushland setting. The site itself is just back from the beach and has stunning views...

: Bill’s House by Tony Owen Partners This house was designed for a client in Sydney’s inner west. The client is a concrete contractor who planned to build the house himself. As a result the...

: Bermuda Point by Tony Owen Partners The Bermuda Point office building is an iconic design solution to a series of very pragmatic design requirements. The project was developed and built by the...

: Boston University Student Quarters by Tony Owen Partners + Silvester Fuller Architects The coolest students in Sydney: The new student quarters for Boston University by Tony Owen Partners and Silvester Fuller Architects at 15-25 Regent Street,...