Stephen Varady Architecture

Profile of Stephen Varady Architecture

Business Name

Stephen Varady Architecture

Location

Australia

Services

Architecture

Website

http://www.stephenvarady.com

Stephen Varady

Principal(s)

Stephen Varady (1959)

• B. Arch, UNSW, 1987
• M. Arch, RMIT, 2002

Philosophy

'architecture is imagination made solid...'

Stephen Varady Architecture is a respected innovative studio-based practice exploring alternative ideas for residential, commercial and hypothetical projects. Their designs are striking, sensitive and cost effective solutions to a wide range of complex problems. All projects are regarded with importance, are approached with careful consideration and patience, and are designed to achieve more than was originally required. Stephen Varady Architecture works long and hard and patiently to carefully craft each project into a special gem. Their studio has an atmosphere of calmness, intensity and fun. There are books and music, computers and models, and constant activity - imaginations are sparked, discussions are had, creativity flows and projects develop gradually through an evolutionary process.

The architecture that Stephen Varady Architecture creates taps into the unlimited possibilities of the imagination to create buildings and projects that engage with the desires and emotions of those that come to use them. The projects are informed by a broad knowledge of art, sculpture and architectural precedent, and while founded on practicality, they are always infused with the sensual and the experiential. Stephen Varady Architecture manipulates sites, materials and light in challenging and inventive ways to create buildings and spaces to accommodate many atmospheres, transforming the simple, functional and straightforward into the mysterious and magical. Through the questioning of preconceptions they attempt to define alternative living and work environments at the beginning of the 21st Century.

Stephen Varady Architecture has received a number of awards from the Royal Australian Institute of Architects, along with the 1996 Belle House of the Year Award, the 2006 Dulux Colour Award Grand Prix, and 2nd Prize in the NSW Government sponsored Circular Quay Urban Design Ideas Competition.

Stephen Varady was born in Sydney in 1959 and founded Stephen Varady Architecture in 1987. He received a Bachelor of Architecture degree with honours from the University of New South Wales in 1987, and a Masters of Architecture degree from RMIT University in Melbourne in 2002. He has been a lecturer and design teacher since 1984 in architecture schools in Sydney, Newcastle, and Melbourne, and is also an architecture critic, writer and photographer, with work published in Australia, UK, Germany, Spain, South Korea and the USA.

Background

• Founded: 1987
• Offices: 1
• Design team: 3

Key projects

• Fullagar Residence, Single family house, Sydney, Australia,
• Larson Kelly Residence, Single family house, Tea Gardens, Australia
• Perraton Apartment, Apartment, Sydney, Australia
• McCarthy Residence, Single family house, Sydney, Australia
• Tomihiro Museum, Competition entry for an Art Gallery, Japan
• Mitchinson Residence, Single family house, Sydney, Australia
• Pace McEwin Residence, Single family house, Sydney, Australia

Key publications

• 'Living The Modern_Australian Architecture', 2007, Hantje Cantz Verlag, Germany, ed. Claudia Perren + Kristien Ring, Perraton Apartment - pp100-102, Larson Kelly Residence - pp103-105
• 'The Ultimate Urban Makeover', 2007, Images Publishing Group, Australia, ed. Stephen Crafti, Mitchinson Residence - pp66-71
• '100 Great Extensions & Renovations', 2007, Images Publishing Group, Australia, ed. Philip Jodidio, Green Residence - pp116-117, McCarthy Residence - pp186-187, Mitchinson Residence - pp188-189, Pace McEwin residence - pp196-197
• 'AUSTRALIA - Architecture & Design', 2007, ed Sabina Marreiros, daab + Loft Publications, Spain, Fullagar Residence - pp218-221
• 'PLASTIC DESIGN', 2007, ed Cristian Campos, daab gmbh, koln, Larson Kelly Residence - pp148-149
• 'STONE DESIGN', 2007, ed Julio Fajardo, daab gmbh, koln, Dalski Stonescape - pp314-319
• 'THE NEW APARTMENT - Smart Living In Small Spaces', 2007, ed Montse Borrrs, Universe - Rizzoli, USA, Perraton Apartment - pp306-311
• BOB Magazine #2 (South Korea), 2004, 'Larson Kelly Residence' - pp94-103
• 'THE PRACTICE OF PRACTICE: research in the medium of design', 2003 ed. Leon van Schaik, , School of Architecture and Design, RMIT, Australia, 'the passionate pursuit of perception' - pp194-203
• 'THINKING ARCHITECTURE - Theory in the Work of Australian Architects', ed. Andrew Metcalf, 1995, 'Stephen Varady - The Kinetic Apartment' - pp92-94

Key awards

• 2006 Dulux Colour Award Australia - Residential Interior + Grand Prix, Fullagar Residence, Wahroonga
• 2005 Dulux Colour Award Australia - Residential Interior, Mitchinson Residence, Woollahra
• 2003 RAIA NSW Chapter Commendation for Interior Architecture, Pace/McEwin Residence, Paddington
• 2001 RAIA NSW Chapter Commendation for Single + Multiple Housing, McCarthy Residence, Mosman
• 2001 RAIA VIC Chapter Award for Architecture in Media, 'Shards' article in ar magazine
• 1996 Belle Magazine Australia - House of the Year Award, Slobom/Parham Residence, Melbourne
• 1995 Circular Quay Urban Design Ideas Competition, Sydney, 2nd Place
• 1993 RAIA NSW Chapter Merit Award for Interior Architecture, Perraton Apartment, Sydney
• 1993 RAIA National Awards Commendation for Interior Architecture, Perraton Apartment, Sydney