Mark Curzon of Fender Katsalidis specialises in complex architecture projects, in particular high-rise commercial and residential buildings, and believes that built forms must ‘give back’.
Originally from Oxford, Mark Curzon has lived and practised architecture in Sydney for 15 years. He now specialises in designing complex projects in the Harbour City, especially high-rise commercial and residential buildings that are grounded in his philosophy that built forms must ‘give back’.
Curzon works closely with his clients, often becoming close friends with them, and enjoys being intimately involved in every stage of the architecture journey.
Can you tell us about your background?
I commenced my career over 20 years ago in the UK and arrived in Sydney about 15 years ago, intending to stay for a year, and I just didn’t go home.
While finishing my Master’s degree, I also worked in urban design. The urban design world gives you a true context for architecture. After all, most people remember streets and not buildings – putting buildings into streetscapes and cityscapes requires knowledge and understanding, a sensitivity to place.
I’ve worked on typically complex, large-scale cultural, commercial and residential projects, and tend to specialise in design competitions. That’s how many of my larger projects began.
I completed two significant projects – the Queensland Gallery of Modern Art and 1 Bligh Street in Sydney. Harbord Diggers at Freshwater, a major mixed-use project, and our win for a new commercial tower at 32 Smith Street, Parramatta, have been my significant contributions for Fender Katsalidis.
Could you describe your most significant career highlight or project?
If I had to choose only one project it would have to be 1 Bligh Street, which won the International Highrise Award. It is a commercial building, an elliptical glass building, built in Sydney. But fundamentally it was a design competition, which was a joint venture with a German friend of mine, Christian Ingenhoven. It was an amazing process of really intense design collaboration. I always say I was the lucky one who got to take it all the way through to completion.
And then it had more life breathed into it when, two weeks after it was finished, we secured the Sydney Commonwealth Parliament Offices (CPO) at 1 Bligh Street. The brief was to design a unique environment, creating first-rate office accommodations within this beautiful building that we had created.
Both 1 Bligh and the CPO involved a wonderful gestation and testing process, all the way through to the point where I still go back there now and I’m still great friends with the clients. People really respond to the work on the project and I continue to learn from it.
Where do you find inspiration?
I draw my inspiration from everything that’s not architecture, particularly nature and being outdoors. You could compare it to a tree in many ways – the way it cantilevers its branches, and how its colours change with the seasons. Trees have flowers; people enjoy their shade and they slow the wind down. They’ve got texture and materiality; and they adapt to every situation they’re put in and are shaped by the things around them. So they’re very honest things.
I am also guided by looking for ‘clues’ in each project. That’s what I teach my team – inspiration comes from nature and our job is hunting for the clues that already exist, then simplifying them down to the essence of what’s needed for that site or project.
What’s your vision for Sydney?
It would be a vision for greening the city. We need to do this vertically where it can’t be achieved horizontally. We should expand the public domain so we don’t just work on plans for green amenity on the ground floor but extend that experience throughout our buildings – to the tops, the middles and the bottoms.
Bringing that outdoor amenity into buildings is critical. We ought to be creating those breathing spaces within the built environment. It’s really important, I think, to utilise all the space we have. If you look down on Sydney you see air conditioners on top of everyone’s roofs, and they’re just utility areas, but these could be shared with rooftop gardens.
What is Fender Katsalidis's focus in 2018?
Fender Katsalidis's strong design culture resonates with me, and I’m here to grow the business and nurture this culture. When I started here a year ago there were nine people and now we’re 30.
I love our team’s can-do mentality where everything is possible. We work closely with our clients to produce meaningful projects that solve our client’s challenges and create better places for people.
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