With a career that includes key hotel and retail projects in the UK and Europe like Harrods’ flagship London store, and, most recently, leading the design on Sydney’s iconic Opera Residences, the career of Tracey Wiles is set to further blossom in her new role of regional interior design leader (Australia and New Zealand) at Woods Bagot.

In announcing the appointment, global design leader Domenic Alvaro described Wiles as a dynamic and formidable addition to the practice.

“Tracey’s portfolio of work is world class and her design experience unparalleled. She’s a tremendous asset and we will see that infuse through the Sydney studio, and globally,” Alvaro says.

Having held partnership and design leader roles at MAKE (UK and Australia), and Foster + Partners (UK), she described her appointment at Woods Bagot as an opportunity to “do something amazing” and build on her high end global portfolio with exemplary work in Australia.

Internationally, Wiles played a key role as an associate partner at Foster + Partners, where she oversaw luxury hotel projects including ME London, Zurich’s Dolder Grand and Madrid’s Hotel Puerta América as well as Lord Norman Foster’s private houses, among them La Voile at Cap Ferrat and an apartment in the Chesa Futura development in St Moritz.

Since returning to Australia two years ago (she left in her mid-twenties, on a two-year working visa) Wiles is proudest of the interior architecture for the super-premium Opera Residences, Sydney, which broke market records when released in 2016.

“I’m here to make a difference. I live for creative conflicts and challenges, the rapid firing exchange of ideas, questions and opinions, and a fully integrated approach where interior design is more than a plug-in.”

Wiles also says that she shares the Woods Bagot dedication to designing buildings that “we would readily live, work and play in ourselves, without exception.

She also says that she shares what she calls, “the firm’s distaste for trend-driven design.”

“More than anything, a design will succeed when it responds to a project’s unique conditions and constraints. That means designing a variety of spaces that respond to the users’ needs under the umbrella of a robust intelligent design concept.”

The move to Woods Bagot reunites Wiles with long-time accomplice and Sydney design leader Ian Lomas. ‘Sympatico’ is how she describes their design relationship and their respective ambitions for projects.

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