The tendency in architecture is to arrive with answers. Clients often expect it, and architects often oblige. But the costliest mistakes in our industry tend to happen early, when assumptions go unchallenged and the brief is accepted at face value rather than interrogated.

We have learned that the most valuable thing we can do in the early stages of a project is to ask questions and then ask more questions. What does success actually look like for this client? What are they worried about that they haven’t said out loud? What might change between now and completion that we should be designing for?

Active listening reveals more than what’s explicitly stated. A client might ask for “open, airy spaces,” but what they are really seeking could be a sense of freedom, or calm, or connection to the outdoors. Reading between the lines and actively listening to their answers can give us insight into what will make the design work for the client.

Clients’ needs can evolve over the course of a project, and we have found that it is important to stay agile enough to adapt without losing design integrity.

The clients who have stayed with us over the years (and many have, project after project) often tell us that it is this consistency that they value most. Not just good design, but the feeling of being genuinely looked after.

None of this means we approach design timidly. We are deeply passionate about architecture, and we push hard to find the best possible response to every brief. But we recognise that our design ideas need to evolve when something more right for the client emerges.

The best projects we have been involved in have come from genuine collaboration. Projects where our ideas have been tested and refined by the client’s knowledge of their own context, and where the client has been inspired and challenged by our knowledge of design. Neither of us gets there alone.

At its heart, architecture is about designing for people. Buildings may be celebrated for their beauty or technical brilliance, but the most enduring designs are those that respond thoughtfully to the needs and aspirations of their users. Understanding those needs is a fundamental part of the practice, requiring empathy, active listening, and the ability to translate human desires into built form.

That exchange is what we find most satisfying about the work. Not the finished building as an object, but the process of getting there together and the relationships that outlast the project.

Working as architects for 25 years means we appreciate what has changed and what has stayed the same over that time. Brisbane has changed significantly is that time. Trends in design have come and gone. However, there are some constants that always need to be recognised and considered.

The benefits of passive design are always important. Managing the amount of sun a building receives (whether to achieve cooling or heating) as well as considering access to views and cooling breezes are all part of the process. Site location and orientation are factors that are considered at very beginning of the design process, to ensure that the building effectively responds to its unique site and context.

The relationship between indoors and outdoors is important too. Brisbane homes have always negotiated the threshold between interior and exterior using the verandah and the covered outdoor room as traditional options. We can live outside for most of the year and that shapes the design choices. Additionally, many of our neighbourhoods have parks and green spaces. The creek corridors, lookouts and reserves form part of the surrounds. Designing with these spaces in mind, can mean the difference between a building that sits apart from its neighbourhood and one that builds a relationship with the surrounding the green space.

Something that is not often acknowledged is the responsibility a building has to its street and surrounding neighbourhood. Whilst the building may be a private dwelling or a commercial premises, it is also part of the narrative of the neighbourhood. People walk and drive past every day, experiencing the building regardless of whether they are invited in or not.

This doesn’t mean that every building needs to be open or transparent. Privacy is important, and for many commercial clients, so is security and brand control. However, we find that where the design balances these needs with a genuine generosity toward the street, we can achieve an outcome that exceeds expectations.

Some of the design choices include planting that contributes to the neighbourhood canopy, and a fence line or boundary treatment that doesn’t feel hostile. For commercial projects, this might mean a façade that is active and engaging at street level, even where the interior needs to remain private. Additionally, material choices matter for every project type. Materials that age well and add something to the block are valuable design choices whether the building is a family home, a boutique retail space, or a professional office.

The balance between privacy and neighbourhood is an important conversation to have with all clients, and one that often unlocks design possibilities they hadn’t previously considered.

In practice, designing with the neighbourhood in mind means considering the site as a whole well before any drawings are begun. This is often part of the masterplanning exercise. It means understanding the history and the narrative of the neighbourhood. It means understanding where the noise comes from and where the light falls in summer and winter.

As part of the collaboration with clients, it means understanding not just what they want inside their building, but also how they want it to feel to approach and arrive. For residential clients, that might be the sense of calm or warmth that greets them at the end of a working day. For commercial clients, it is the impression made on staff arriving each morning, on customers approaching for the first time, or on the broader community passing by. What does the building communicate before anyone has stepped inside? Does it feel like it belongs here, or like it has been dropped onto the site without introduction?

These are important questions for any project type, and they help to separate a building that could be anywhere from a building that can only be in this neighbourhood.

High-rise apartments are pivotal in accommodating growing urban populations. They offer efficient land use, proximity to amenities, and the potential for stunning vistas. However, designing these structures requires a balance between density and liveability. Rawlinson Street exemplifies this balance. Situated in Murrarie, Brisbane, the challenge was to design high density housing without overpowering the low density surrounding. Voids are carved from the form to the street, ensuring that the building simultaneously provides daylight deep within the floor plan and breaks down the scale of its elevation. The building steps down to the rear of the site, reducing overshadowing and the bulk of the building as it addresses its residential neighbours

Bangalow Townhouses is a development that thoughtfully responds to its unique context. Situated in the heart of Bangalow, NSW, the project draws inspiration from the region’s rich history and natural surroundings. The design incorporates elements that reflect the area’s character, creating a sense of place that resonates with residents and visitors alike.

The townhouses are designed to blend seamlessly into the existing streetscape, respecting the scale and rhythm of the surrounding architecture. Materials and forms are carefully selected to complement the local vernacular, ensuring that the development enhances rather than disrupts the community fabric.

Holberton Street in Zillmere has been designed as new public housing for small families. The project is carefully aligned with the Queensland Government’s Social Housing Design Guideline, ensuring that is delivers not only functionality but also comfort, adaptability and long-term community benefit.

Aged care and senior living require a design approach that balances independence, community, and support. At Headland Terraces, we explored how architecture can enhance quality of life for retirees while responding sensitively to its coastal setting. The project provides independent living apartments designed with accessibility, safety, and comfort in mind, while also fostering social connection through shared spaces and landscaped terraces. By integrating natural light, cross-ventilation, and generous balconies, the design supports both physical wellbeing and a sense of belonging, demonstrating how senior living environments can be uplifting, dignified, and deeply connected to place.

Whether you’re dreaming of building a brand new home or extending your current one or planning a commercial development, we are here to guide and support you throughout the entire journey. At Reddog, we believe in working closely with you—offering a process that’s tailored to fit the size, scope, and unique needs of your project.

In designing Sonder, we considered the dilemma of providing accommodation for many residents (100 residents) in a way that is considerate of the ‘small household model’ of 15 or fewer people living together in dwellings or clusters.

The hero of the site is the landscape, the architecture blending in by being based around simple elements of materiality, with the four buildings possessing their own identity:

• Tree/batten house – eucalypt brick base
• Brick house – sandy brick base
• Earth house – brown brick base
• Weatherboard house – white brick base

The four ‘houses’ whilst grounded by brick bases will be porous at ground level, with awnings and colonnades to the edges. Porosity is further enhanced with interior landscaping creating a seamless transition from inside to out.

In designing Dayboro Kindergarten, warm, natural materials such as plywood and marmoleum provided the interior with a similar hospitable and domestic atmosphere. The fresh, lively colour palette was designed to appeal to the children. Contrasting the smooth, bright materials such as laminate and marmoleum against the natural textures of plywood and concrete resulted in an environment that offers the children visual interest managing to be both playful and completely functional.

For the Mango Hill Childcare Centre, each of the indoor spaces is intended to be varied, with the size, scale and colour palette of each indoor space responding to each respective age group. Muted tones in indoor spaces for babies contrasts with the more vibrant palette used in spaces occupied by older children. Opening on to the piazza and surrounding outdoor play areas, natural light fills the indoor spaces and enhances the connection of inside to outside.