To Make Poetically

Gabriella Gulacsi

Associate Director

Inspired by a family friend from Switzerland whom worked in interior design with a unique and exceptional handwriting skill was the catalyst for Gabriella’s chosen career path.

Gabriella completed her honours degree at the University of South Australia in 1998. Prior to completing her studies Gabriella secured a role and worked within the Adelaide office of Architecture firm – Woods Bagot. Having completed a five year stint in Adelaide, Gabriella moved to Melbourne in 2002 to further her skills, knowledge and seek new challenges. During this time she excelled in representing Architectus, Woods Bagot, and Geyer, delivering and collaborating on small-scale and major projects for industry leaders and blue-chip clients in the commercial sector, domestic and international.

In 2015, and with a good foundation, strong business acumen, and wealth of experience Gabriella moved to Technē. It was at this time, Techne were seeking to expand its commercial sector and looking to employ a leader for Interior Design. As project leader and throughout a project lifecycle, Gabriella is constantly evaluating and re-assessing risk to ensure the project is delivered on time, within budget and scope. Gabriella brings her passion for design and creativity, along with her pragmatic and holistic approach to business. Instilling collaboration amongst peers as a key driver to successful engagement with clients, this mutually benefits and enriches the desired outcome.

Gabriella leads by example with honesty, fairness and trust. She believes in her team and sees every project as an opportunity to deliver exceptional client service.

Nick Travers

Director

Travers is at the interface between the client and the practice, a role that fits with his ability to easily communicate and identify any ‘glitches’ in the building process. Getting projects completed on time and on budget is seen as fundamental to the success of any project, irrespective of scale.

While the delivery of a project is pivotal, Travers is acutely aware of the ‘emotional’ reaction a project also delivers: the ability to experience a space that goes well beyond ‘bricks and mortar’.

One of the things that needs to be addressed is complete transparency, both with colleagues, and Technē’s clients. And while some avoid the ‘difficult conversation’, whether that be related to timing or budget, issues need to be dealt with well before anything goes off track. And those discussions need to be appropriately timed through the life of a project to avoid any mistakes. So, while architecture often deals with celebrating the end product, focusing on the aesthetics or the poetry in a design, Travers also sees the importance of functionality, fulfilling a client’s brief and going well beyond expectations established in an initial brief. The thought of one’s hair standing up on the back of one’s neck in seeing the completed project makes all the effort and attention given throughout the process ultimately worthwhile.

Justin Northrop

Director

Justin Northrop knew from his early childhood, growing up in Canberra, that he was going to be an architect. While his father was an engineer rather than an architect, he enjoyed watching seeing his father’s practice expand throughout his high school years. This, coupled with the family home built by his father and the construction sites he visited, also cemented Northrop’s career trajectory. Northrop’s grandfather, a hobby craftsman, also sewed the seeds for making and working with his hands.

Graduating in Architecture in 1996, Northrop was fortunate to work in the office of Denton Corker Marshall (DCM) as part of a team working on projects such as the extension to Melbourne Museum and the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre known as ‘Jeff’s Shed’. Witnessing the artistry of DCM directors’ work, was highly valuable. From the large and highly innovative, to working with a small, yet as talented lighting designer Stephen Hennesy Art & Design, there was the benefit of working on small-scale projects by hand.

Making models led Northrop to work for Peddle Thorp Architects for six years, until 2002, when he established his own practice. And unlike being in a large commercial practice where he was a ‘cog’ in a large machine, there was now the ability to see ideas and concepts carried through, with initial projects focused on hospitality.

As Technē’s design director, Northrop brings an analytical approach to the practice’s designs. It’s certainly not a ‘flash of inspiration’ that’s delivered to clients, but a rational and methodical approach that generates both a poetic and highly functional outcome. And rather than taking a hierarchical approach, Northrop attributes Technē’s success to his team and its ability to address the brief, while still maintaining that element of surprise and delight from the schematics through to the delivered project. And in the same way as it takes considerable energy and time to produce the perfect dish, creating the right design requires considerable skill and importantly, patience, to allow the practice to continue to grow and mature.

Steve McKeag

Director

As with Justin Northrop, the experience of seeing one’s parents build their family home resonated with Steve McKeag who was a teenager at the time. Designed by architect David Reid in the Geelong suburb of Newtown, his family’s three-storey house on a steep site is still engrained in McKeag’s psyche.

So, it was no surprise to the family when their son enrolled to study architecture at Deakin University, graduating in 1999. And while his final year thesis went missing (a hand-drawn document prior to the introduction of computers), his passion and drive was recognised by architect Paul Delaney, who was known for his bespoke houses in Melbourne’s leafy suburbs, such as Hawthorn and Kew. McKeag’s interest in environmentally sustainable design (ESD) principles, well before these became more mainstream, was also recognised by his early employers, including architect Brendan Jones, now at Cloud Architecture, and larger practices such as Rothe Lowman. And in 2007, McKeag joined what was then Atelier Technē, initially working on hospitality and residential projects (bespoke houses and multi-residential).

Although McKeag has numerous talents, his role at Technē is described as ‘prospecting’, looking out for opportunities that will enable the practice to grow in a controlled and appropriate direction. Many of the projects start with simple conversations through business relationships that have evolved since he joined the practice. He also sees the bigger picture, looking at what lies ahead to consider whether these projects are aligned with Technē’s direction.

Working closely with Justin Northrop, McKeag enjoys the planning arm of projects, whether these be hospitality, commercial or residential in nature. Extruding a client’s brief, conceiving floor plans and providing the input to delight a client, well beyond expectations, continues to drive and inspire, not only McKeag, but all his colleagues. And when he’s not in work mode, he enjoys exploring the terrain of his home turf at Jan Juc, mountain biking and engaging with the outdoors with his children.

Sam Sempill

Associate Director

Architect Sam Sempill’s career is as diverse as Technē’s portfolio. Graduating in Architecture from the University of Melbourne in 2004, Sempill was running a restaurant at the same time, an extraordinary achievement given she was in her early 20s. She puts this mammoth effort down to the fact she was young and didn’t require that much sleep. While the restaurant forms part of her past, her passion for cooking, as well as writing continues with a soon-to-be released cooking book.

Receiving a Premier’s Award for art at school and along with her continued attraction to textiles (Sempill can easily spend an entire weekend hand-weaving one textile), she was drawn to architecture given it combined a good dose of creativity, along with a profession. And as with the dishes served up, Sempill worked for a number of practices, both large and small, after graduating: including Craig Perry + Peter Dan Architects, Nott Architects to Gray Puksand and Billard Leece. And while she enjoyed these experiences, she was looking to work in a practice that reflected her diverse interests, from art and food to simply the pleasure that comes from making things.

Being social by nature, the opportunity to co-manage a studio sits well with Sempill, who is focused on creating an outcome and being part of a fluid and transparent design process. Her years of providing service in the restaurant come to the fore, making sure her team has everything it needs and supporting younger colleagues in mentoring their career paths. The ability to ‘read’ people is pivotal to her success, along with her rational and logical approach, whether its clients, colleagues or consultants, ensuring that design concepts through to construction are delivered smoothly. Sempill’s experience at the helm of a restaurant has been enormously beneficial with Technē’s hospitality projects, with her knowledge of the organisational requirements demanded in a busy commercial kitchen.