What do you like about these projects?
I enjoy finding a balance between high quality design and budget constraints. Early in my career I had unlimited budgets, and now I have much smaller budgets for the scope, and I am enjoying the challenge.
I like thinking – coming up with a unique solution that’s appropriate to the context and the brief. I’ve applied these principles to a wide range of contexts and sectors. At the end of the day the process of design is the same for a high-end residential project as for a school – identifying the brief, the parameters, the scope, and coming up with a solution that meets these. I like being challenged, getting out of my comfort zone. When I am made to think about new projects, that’s when I get excited.
So Paul, tell me a bit about life beyond the office.
Well, my wife and I have been together for 20 years, and we have two teenage kids. We are an active, outdoors type family, we love experiences and travel. I also like cooking – it’s how I relax when I get home. And I love music – I have a huge collection of vinyl that is probably closer to 10,000 records than 5,000.
That’s a lot of music!
Yes, and I have a penchant for classic cars. In the UK I had an Audi, and we currently have a Combi campervan. We do lots of weekend and school holiday trips to the countryside near Sydney – bushwalking, exploring – we love experiences that are wet and wild!
We’ve also done a lot of overseas travel as a family, which I’m particularly grateful for in the current situation. When our second child was a baby, and our other son was four, we spent nine months in south and central America. People thought we were crazy, but it was so incredible! I believe humans are essentially good – people want to help you – and having young children with you actually makes people want to help you more! I mean, who is going to do something nasty to you when you have a baby strapped to your back? Our son went to school for two months in Mexico, which has a bad reputation, but really, it was amazing. We travelled to some truly inspirational regions such as Oaxaca and Chiapas, which I would highly recommend.