Hassell

About Hassell

Hassell is a leading international design practice founded in Australia in 1938. From its origins as an Australian architecture firm it has grown into a multidisciplinary studio operating across Australia, Asia, the United Kingdom and the United States, with studios including Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, Perth, Adelaide, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Singapore, London and San Francisco.

The practice summarises its purpose simply: it designs places people love. That phrasing sets a higher and more awkward standard than functional success, because affection for a place is determined by everyday experience rather than by the drawing.

Integrated Disciplines

Hassell works across four principal disciplines, deliberately combined rather than separated.

• Architecture - commercial, civic, education, health, transport and mixed-use buildings
• Interior design - workplace, hospitality and public interiors
• Landscape architecture - parks, public realm, campuses and waterfronts
• Urban design and planning - district frameworks and city-scale strategy

The practice also offers research, strategy and experience design alongside these core services. Its argument for the mix is economic as much as aesthetic: bringing several perspectives together unlocks the economic, social and cultural value of a project in ways a single discipline cannot.

Integrated Design Teams

Projects are delivered by integrated teams because, in the firm's view, they produce the best outcomes. Increasingly complex client briefs demand a culture built on collaboration, creativity and innovation in both design thinking and delivery.

This matters most where disciplines meet - the edge between a building and its landscape, or between interior fit-out and base build, is exactly where fragmented teams tend to produce compromised results.

Sectors

Hassell works across workplace and commercial development, transport and infrastructure including major rail and station projects, health and medical research, education from schools to university campuses, civic and cultural buildings, residential and mixed-use development, sport and recreation, and public realm and parks.

Studios as Design Statements

The practice treats its own workplaces as demonstrations of its thinking. The Melbourne studio at 55 Collins - located within Collins Place, the modernist complex designed by I.M. Pei - occupies an entire floor conceived as a laboratory-like work lab, deliberately arranged for flexibility, creativity and co-creation with clients.

Global Practice, Shared Values

Design values are held in common across every Hassell studio, shared by architects, interior designers, landscape architects, urban designers, planners and specialist consultants. That consistency lets the practice move expertise between regions while retaining local knowledge of climate, culture and regulation - particularly valuable across the very different contexts of Australia, East Asia and the UK.

Market Position

Hassell is among the most established design practices in the Asia Pacific region and competes internationally on the strength of its multidisciplinary model. Clients include state governments and transport authorities, universities, health services, developers and global corporations.

Why AEC Teams Should Know Hassell

For teams working on transport interchanges, campuses, workplace or public realm projects - particularly in Australia and Asia - Hassell is a significant reference point for integrated design across the built environment.