South African born and raised, Darren has over 14 years of experience working in architectural practice in Sydney, acting as project lead in commercial offices on a broad range of typologies including education, commercial and retail projects, some with construction value of up to $100m.

Darren’s speciality is in early education, with experience in over a dozen centres including Yirran Gumal in Marrickville, Blackfriars UTS, NSW Teachers Federation, Gowrie NSW Erskineville and Dubbo, and KU Westmead.

Feeling frustrated by the inertia of the industry in general to shift away from a business-as-usual approach and act on climate change and biodiversity loss, he took the opportunity of the pandemic disruption to found his own practice in 2020. This was also the start of his Passivhaus journey.

He is passionate about positive sustainability, ecology, urban forestry, and active transport. He believes that a design and systems-based approach has massive potential to accelerate our shift to net zero and beyond.

When he’s not in the studio, you can usually find him in the garden or tinkering with steel-framed bicycles.