Travis Walton is an established Melbourne-based architect who established Travis Walton Architecture & Interior Design in 2010.

He recently opened another office in the UK and launched an international website.

Architecture & Design spoke to Walton about his design philosophy, opening his UK office, and working on his own five-storey home.

What is your design philosophy and how does it differ from others in the industry?

Our focus is to strive for design excellence and to innovate for a high resolution of detail. Rather than marry our clients to a particular aesthetic, we seek to explore an aesthetic appropriate to the brief and the client brand.

What has had the greatest influence on your approach to design?

The ability to explore the world and to seek adventure.

You recently opened another office in the UK. What prompted you to open an international office? What was the greatest challenge?

The motivation came very naturally. An existing client of ours had a residential property requiring a major renovation in the up-market suburb of Knightsbridge, London. One of our staff members was considering moving back to her hometown of London, so the timing could not have been any better.

We are now expanding our London operations to include retail and hospitality projects.

Why did you decide on the UK?

My father is British, so there is a strong family tie to London, but family aside, London is a great design hub to connect to the rest of the world.

You're currently working on your own home. Has anything come up that is different from working on other people's houses?

I am working on a five-storey building for myself – quite a large undertaking really! I’m loving the process, but I think the client keeps changing the brief on me ... (that would be me). I am not in any great rush, as my priority is servicing our existing clients.

You run design tours in Tokyo, the UK and New York. In one sentence, how would you define each city's vibe?

Tokyo: Bill Murray’s ‘Lost in Translation’ crossed with the most beautiful design sensibility to high detail.

London: the central hub of Europe for all things design.

New York: the epicenter of global design culture for the best of the best! If you can imagine it anywhere, you are likely to find it there.

What is one city that you would one day love to design a building in?

Paris – the Parisian modern design aesthetic is very cool. They understand luxe detail better than any other.

Stephanie McDonald

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