Allied_Office

Based in Sydney, Australia, Allied_Office (formerly Mac-Interactive Architects) is an established architectural practice with a strong but understated belief in the fundamental concerns of architecture, nervous of manifestos, utopias and "the grand gesture". Process, Participation, Perception, 1st principles and are what interests us the most. These tenets could be summed up by the word SYNECTICS, which has been central to director Andy Macdonald's beliefs since the early 90's. Every project/exploration we embark on is based on these tenets rather than being style-based or derivative. That is not to say that everything we do is 100% original, as we believe that not only is this impossible – it is not something to be strived for - as there are many lessons to be learnt from others. Previous incarnations that reflect this, include collaborative ventures such as multi-disciplinary design group in Amsterdam called Elastic Skeleton. Allied_Offie’s work so far, has been a mix of Residential, Commercial, and Art/Theatre/Installation work to keep us agile. The practice draws on experience gained whilst working for larger practices, in fields such as leisure, large scale commercial, and civic projects, including master-planning, urban design and government offices. These projects have ranged in value from AU$10million to AU$280million.