Blueprint for success

From its penchant for sustainable design to its commitment to long-life developments, Perth-based architectural firm Bollig Design Group has had a hand in some of Australia’s most exciting commercial design projects.

Whether you are looking for urban or master planning services, interior design, or architectural support, there is one firm in Western Australian that has vast experience working across a broad range of inspirational developments.

Perth-based Bollig Design Group (BDG) offers its clients a multi-disciplinary design approach and has the capacity to deal with A$700million of projects.

Under the leadership of senior architect and managing director Edwin Bollig, the firm has gone from strength to strength as its skilled design and management professionals rewrite the rulebook when it comes to commercial design and government building across Western Australia.

Founded by Bollig’s father in 1959, BDG has developed into one of the state’s leading architectural names.

“We’ve grown into a team of around 20 people, and as a multi-disciplinary design company we are comprised of a mixture of architects, planners, urban designers and interior designers,” remarks Bollig, who has been in charge of the company since 1995.

“We offer a very wide spectrum of services, from commercial works to hospitality works, and residential works to retail facilities.”

BDG takes on developments from the design stage through to administration and aims to provide original and unique solutions directly related to a client’s funding requirements, investment criteria, cash-flow, and corporate and cultural policy.

It has picked up a selection of awards in recent years, including accolades from the Master Builders Association (2000 and 2003), the Royal Australian Institute of Architects (2002, 2005 and 2009) and the Steel Institute (2002 and 2005).

Building brilliance

With a core focus on design in the built form, one of BDG’s key aims is to maintain its reputation as a high-end commercial design practice.

“Some of our competitors see themselves as high-end designers, but we put a very commercial bent on how we view ourselves as we believe that if our clients are making money we will get more work from them,” notes Bollig.

He says that BDG’s passion for design is borne from its attempts to push boundaries in a commercial manner.
“Sometimes it’s as simple as developing a concept that’s different, that’s affordable and will make somebody money,” Bollig explains. “It’s also about designing something that’s very attractive and iconic, and that forms the balancing act that you have to work on in commercial architecture.”

In pushing design boundaries within the commercial sphere, BDG has been developing its concepts and ideas to create better ways of living, shopping and working.

Recent projects that reflect this innovative approach include Raine Square, an office and retail development in Perth’s Central Business District.

“Raine Square is a very good example of high-end commercial design with a strong environmental focus,” remarks Bollig. The project, which received a four-star Green Star rating, comprises a 60,000 square metre integrated mixed-use development that occupies an entire city block.

“It involved incorporating appropriate sun shading on the building to reduce the thermal load to the building using high-quality double glazing,” Bollig notes.

“It also incorporated a lot of materials that, despite having high-embodied energy in terms of their manufacture, have very low-embodied energy in terms of long-term maintenance issues.

“During this project we also looked at and focused on the lifecycle of the building,” he adds.

Green guru

Sustainability has been a major part of BDG’s approach towards design for many years now.

“As a practice, for close to 15 years, we have been at the forefront of thinking about sustainability principles,” says Bollig.

“We have designed local government office buildings on which we adopted very high-end passive solar design criteria and used very high-end thermal glazing.”

Alongside embracing sustainable methods in its design process, the company also has a key eye on the development, morale and motivation of its staff.

A high retention rate has led BDG to grow like a family unit as well as commercially astute business; as Bollig notes, the company recruits people who are able to demonstrate more than just the required skills, with passion ranking highly on its enrolment checklist.

“We have a very low turnover of staff, which is down to the mutual respect between the employer and employee,” he says. “But we tend to run the company slightly more like a studio environment than as a traditional business environment.”

Exhibit, educate, enthral

Designing a building in a region famed for its natural beauty and its fine wines sounds idyllic, but in working on the Augusta Margaret River Administration Building, BDG had to adapt to the sustainable challenges presented by a more remote environment.

This iconic landmark in the Augusta-Margaret River region incorporates a high-level energy rating and includes the Shire’s Council Chamber and a civic square for public gatherings and outdoor entertainment.

“The council wanted to develop a building that was very environmentally focused, but also had the functional and practical requirements for its day-to-day operations, so it was a very hard brief to bring together,” remarks Bollig.

“The project involved a lot of hands-on environmental technologies, including highly-thermal efficient glazing, sun-shading, automatic lights that switch on or off depending on whether the rooms are occupied, photovoltaic sensors and so on.”

By working closely with Augustus council on this development, BDG played a key role in exhibiting and promoting sustainable commercial design to a local community keen to discover more about energy-saving practices in building design.

Another project from the firm that also aims to educate the public on sustainable design techniques, while promoting environmental issues, is Coburn Community and Health Centre.

“This project features an interactive side,” notes Bollig. “The development is under construction at the moment and, once completed, will have interactive displays that members of the local community will be able to use to see how the building is actually working in terms of its usage.

“There will be features such as a 97 kilowatt photovoltaic array on top of the building, but it is the interactive side that is orientated towards young people and children that makes the development relevant,” he adds.

“They will be able to interact with and monitor the building, and see how photovoltaic technology is contributing to the buildings’ overall energy usage.”

Since its original inception in 1959, BDG has grown into a mature and innovative design-focused architectural practice. With the capacity to complete individual projects to a value of $400 million, and a reputation for hard work, innovation and sustainability, the practice has become one of the leading names in Western Australian building design.

www.bollig.com.au