The ever pursuit of good - how EVER keeps learning and growing
Architecture is such a broad field and a life-long pursuit, and we know we are never the finished article. This is why being active in learning and growing is so critical for both the health of our business and the good of our clients.
For us at EVER, we’ve always seen ourselves as the “next link” in a long chain, walking in the footsteps of good architects who have selflessly served before us. We have youthful faces, but we are not here to radically change the profession. We claim to be counter-cultural, but that’s in the context of critiquing how things are usually done where we are; because we don’t “look the type”, we have always felt free to pursue architecture in the way that we feel is authentic to who we are, what we know, and that we believe helps us to achieve the best outcomes for the people serve.
Our processes didn’t come out of thin air - indeed, our practice began in 2016 after Billy spent a formative six months learning and volunteering in Cambodia with Swiss Architect Martin Aerne, and a lot of our philosophies and processes originated in his practice in Phnom Penh, and for Martin, what he was originally taught in Zurich. Since then, we have continually developed and evolved how we work to best fit with our Queensland context. This involves both pushing forward with technology and software, but also pursuing “older” crafts such as modelmaking and sketching.
Investing in our future
We always want to be learning and getting better in what we do. Architects have to complete a certain level of Professional Development each year. That, to us, is just a baseline.
On this note, we want to thank our good friend Casey, a highly accomplished and experienced Architect who spends a day with us once every six weeks or so as an External Consultant. Casey not only teaches and mentors us, but has already begun to shape how we come up with and present our designs, and how we document our buildings. To be frank, any emerging Architect who takes the step out to begin their own practice always misses having experienced minds to bounce ideas off, and wisdom to learn from. So we’re deeply appreciative of Casey’s friendship and input in what we do here at EVER.
We look forward to working with Casey and others over the coming years - to keep learning and growing, so that we can keep giving our best to the people we seek to serve!
Stretching, growing and developing
In an industry that is always evolving, developing and embracing new trends and technologies, it’s also important that we push, stretch and grow ourselves by participating in architectural competitions, envisioning new concepts, and using our skills to help others. Over the past three years we have been able to:
Participate in an architectural competition for a new dental centre in Kigali, Rwanda (shortlisted)
Come up with Adaptable Housing, our guiding vision for contemporary suburban living
As of late 2021, we are also participating in a design competition for social housing in Unley, Adelaide.
The point of participating in competitions isn’t really to win per se - but more as an opportunity for our team to bond, learn, develop new graphics standards and ways of working, and test our design abilities in spheres beyond what we are used to.
We hope that this short blog gives you a small insight into our team’s mindset, passion, and hunger to give our best to the people we serve.