Ben Peake

Architect Ben Peake uses the contradictory properties of steel – rigidity and flexibility – to form striking shapes and create modern architectural icons.

How do you bring joy to a space? That’s the question Carter Williamson architect Ben Peake asks as part of his design process on every project. And joy is indeed a signature element of his work, which features whimsical shapes, supported by the strength and precision of steel.

Awarded the 2023 Australian Institute of Architects’ National Emerging Architect Prize, Peake has already made quite an imprint on the architectural landscape, despite coming to it a little later than most. His path to architecture took a circuitous route through 10 years as a business analyst, a role in which he enjoyed professional success but not personal fulfilment.

“Around that same time I was travelling – from Marrakesh to Paris – and I was really taken by the built environment, seeing the contrast between those places,” says Peake. This reignited a dormant passion for architecture and – after much soul-searching – led him to enrol in an architecture degree just short of turning 30.

Switching fields would be a full-time challenge for most, but Peake’s career to date has been notable not just for his award-winning projects with Sydney firm Carter Williamson but also for his advocacy work within the industry. Driven to promote representation and diversity, he is one of the co-founders of Architecture with Pride and a member of the Australian Institute of Architects National Committee for Gender Equity. “I came to this career a little bit later and I felt like I had time to make up for,” he says. “I think that has motivated me to contribute and be engaged beyond what I’m employed to do.”

He has taken a leadership role in the heritage conservation space, too, driving Sydney’s Save Our Sirius campaign. The campaign fought to preserve the Sirius Building in The Rocks, which is not only a rare and striking example of brutalist architecture, but also a thoughtfully designed example of successful, community-focused public housing.

Peake’s work on Save Our Sirius stamps him as a conservationist but his attitude toward heritage buildings is more nuanced than absolute. “We’ve always said that not every building can be kept. But great examples of architecture need to be retained because they tell our story. We can’t be a city with just beautiful sandstone colonial architecture and shiny new office buildings. Where is the stuff that happened through the middle, the mid-century stuff, the brutalist stuff? We should be keeping great examples of that.”

This idea of architecture being a record of history similarly informs Peake’s approach when working on existing heritage buildings, motivating him to preserve their period character, but with a contemporary twist that reflects the modern way of life of the current occupants. “It’s the best of both worlds – the beauty and the detailing of the original, and then, in the addition, something that’s very Sydney and very Australian, open to the landscape, the light and the air.”

When creating this contemporary contrast, Peake frequently leans toward steel, which provides the flexibility and precision required for creative freedom. “We often use the word ‘playful’. There’s something in a lot of our projects that is a little step to the left or a little different to what you might expect,” he says, explaining that there’s always an intention to elevate the home and provide something special. “Of course it’s providing a function in supporting the family, but it’s also a little piece of architecture.”

The versatility of steel is illustrated in one of Peake’s defining projects, the Woodcroft Neighbourhood Centre in Sydney’s west, which is distinguished by a serpentine roof created with cladding made from ZINCALUME^® steel in Fielders FreeForm^® profile. The centre earned Carter Williamson a slew of awards, including the Fielders Made Design Award – Roofing and Walling.

The ‘squiggle’ line of the roof serves a practical purpose, with taller sections housing the double-height foyer and main hall and lower sections proportionally appropriate for the more intimate spaces within. Peake explains the further reasoning behind this whimsical design was that the previous public building had been destroyed by arson; thus, the intention here was to create a space that the community would connect with and be proud of. “Even at a distance, people can see that it’s different to everything else in the neighbourhood and therefore conveys it as being a significant community place.”

Steel was integral to the success of the design. Fielders FreeForm^® was able to deal with the complex changes in geometry. Rollformed on site, sheets were profiled and shaped at length to the project’s unique requirements. “We had the confidence that the profile would be able to be shaped without compromise to the design.”

The precision and efficiency of steel when profiled to capture these extraordinary shapes with very little material wastage make it a fundamental material in Peake’s design palette. Unsurprisingly, however, given his work on heritage buildings and architectural preservation, he also designs with an eye to the future and appreciates the longevity of steel. “We work in heritage areas quite a lot and if the building has been there for 100 or 150 years, if we’re going to put in new architecture, we want to bring a sense of longevity.” On the flip side, he adds, “Not all buildings have that lifespan in them, so it’s also good to know that there’s recycling and reuse of [steel] materials as an option if a building was to be demolished in the future.”

While considering a project’s potential end-of-life impact is good practice, Ben Peake looks set to make a lasting mark on the architectural landscape, as long-lasting as the steel products he designs with.