COX Architecture Australia will boost its sustainable design and practice capability with a new senior appointment, with a new focus that tackles the challenges of client reticence to outperform on sustainability.
Dr Matthias Irger will be head of sustainability for the 650 strong practice as he rejoins the practice where he got a start in his career.
Managing partner Russell Lee told The Fifth Estate that while appetite for sustainability is growing, there is still significant misunderstanding about the importance of sustainability and how to achieve it.
“A lot of clients are still missing [that piece]. Some clients are very motivated, some don’t understand what it all means.”
For example, he says that some clients are unwilling to register for ratings tools such as Green Star due to the cost.
The team is developing in-house tools for carbon assessment in order to standardise sustainability assessments and reduce costs for clients.
The company will draw on Dr Irger’s deep understanding and commitment on climate change and sustainable urbanism, for which he gained a PhD in 2014.
The appointment was part of a restructure that’s been several years in the making, Lee said.
“In 2019 the firm decided to rationalise its national operations, so at that time we formally established a number of positions in the COX practice including management partner, broader managers and a national executive team. We placed a number of people in national roles, to bring [the six studios] under a clear umbrella.”
Dr Irger was chosen for his experience designing and implementing national sustainability strategies for organisations.
Part of that offering, Lee says, means looking beyond carbon neutrality, “at regenerative design and how we can move towards it and create rational systems for assessing environmental performance.
“What is the most appropriate [pathway]? This will vary from project to project.”
“Some clients are very motivated, some don’t understand what it all means”
Dr Irger will oversee and work closely with the company’s six studios across Australia, to create national strategies, objectives and actions to reduce embodied and operational carbon emissions across all service offerings across various sectors.
He will oversee the sustainability direction across the 650 staff, and guide the firm’s six working groups and sustainability managers nationwide across architectural, urban design and interior design projects.
Dr Irger has a strong background in sustainability. He, having lectured in environmental design, urban design and sustainable development at the University of New South Wales for more than seven years, and previously worked for major architectural firms including Architectus, Grimshaw, and Lippman Partnership. He got a start at COX early in his career and is now returning.
The company is currently involved in transport and mixed-use residential projects, as well as sports projects. In Melbourne, Adelaide and Canberra, Lee says the appetite is for commercial buildings while in Melbourne and New South Wales infrastructure is hot.
The firm recently completed 150 Lonsdale, a masterplan vision for client Charter Hall in Melbourne, the AURA Somerset at Indooroopilly is a master planned development for client AURA IGC Management, and the Snow Concert Hall and Music Centre for the Canberra Grammar School.