OPTIMISTIC FUTURES

With work that is both experiential and timeless, Retallack Thompson is becoming the first choice in Australia-centric architecture.

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RETALLACK THOMPSON is an architecture practice on the cusp of big things. Since launching in 2016, they have been something of the architect’s architect — that is, a younger firm which A-list practices are confident to recommend when a job isn’t the right timing for them. “While this has been wonderful and introduced us to some longstanding clients, we now have direct approaches because people have seen and appreciated our work,' says Jemima Retallack.

With an emphasis on designing houses, alterations and small public buildings, directors Jemima and partner (in life and work) Mitchell Thompson take an optimistic view of any opportunity to eke out the potential beauty in a space. “We look to make the smallest of manoeuvres that render the greatest effect, and understand [that] spaces are formed by our relationships with each other, the landscape and the world beyond,” says Mitchell. This sensitivity has created a body of work with a clear aesthetic signature that emphasises spatial beauty and a pared-back material palette.