Warren & Mahoney’s pioneering approach to built environment projects has been recognised by business publication Fast Company, who rates the practice as one of the top ten most innovative architectural practices in the world for 2023.
Published yearly, the list seeks to showcase businesses that sit at the coalface of their industry. Fast Company says Warren & Mahoney’s cultural sensitivity and collaboration with Indigenous and Traditional Owners have enabled the practice to flourish.
“In 2022, Warren and Mahoney decided to face this touchy design issue head on, forming an Indigenous Design Unit focused specifically on exploring and amplifying Indigenous values in its work,” the article reads.
“By embracing Indigenous voices and ideas, they’re helping counter the inequalities created by colonialism. The firm applied this perspective to assignments for Google and a major transit project in Melbourne, helping it secure new projects. This year’s winners demonstrate that they can make the world look better while also making it work better.”
The co-design approach saw the delivery of Google’s Headquarters building in Auckland, designed in collaboration with local iwi Ngāti Whātua Orākei. This collaboration resulted in a workplace narrative woven around place, featuring stories of land, people, and culture – each bringing the richness of Aotearoa New Zealand to Google and its users.
Warren & Mahoney Head of Design, Blair Johnston, says the practice has continued to improve its ability to co-design with Indigenous peoples throughout the likes of Australia, Fiji and New Zealand.
“Co-design is a process we have had the privilege of refining over decades in Aotearoa New Zealand in partnership with mana whenua,” he says.
“We have evolved a practice which encourages equitable participation in the design process. We seek to amplify Indigenous insight to create authentic design narratives and stronger connections to the communities and landscapes within which we build.”
Warren and Mahoney’s Indigenous design unit, Te Matakīrea, is led by an upcoming generation of Indigenous architects to support and lead ongoing industry changes.
“True co-design with Indigenous peoples is about legitimacy, credibility, and intimacy. Co-design is about relationships and agency. If as designers, we invest in and honour the relationship, the returns will be rich in every sense,” says Warren & Mahony Principal and Te Matakīrea Lead, Whare Timu.
“It’s up to us to create a process that enables this relationship of give and take to inform our collective thinking.”
Johnston says the design unit can be a flagship for other practices across the globe, benefitting from the foundational principles of partnership embedded within Te Tiriti o Waitangi, and from an increasing maturity of conversation and collaboration within the design community more broadly.
“It’s now exciting to build on this work beyond New Zealand including our work with First Nations design partners in Australia. This award recognises great progress – but we are only at the starting line. Architecture at its best is an agent for social change and the co-design journey is just beginning.”
The practice’s Managing Director John Coop says the ranking is a reflection of the firm’s philosophies.
“To be included as one of the top ten most innovative architecture practices in the world, alongside extremely successful global businesses and creative leaders, is a testament to our clients and collaborators, our people, and the potential of Pacific design to influence global trends.
“We are proud of the way our design philosophy has evolved to ensure we celebrate and learn from Indigenous cultures and create places with authentic identity. We know co-design can make a positive difference to the form, function and performance of our projects.”
Image: Warren & Mahoney's Mona Vale Surf Lifesaving Club.
