Rising costs and regulatory burdens are creating more roadblocks than ever for project feasibilities.
But multidisciplinary architecture design firm MODE has pioneered a process that can unlock the untapped value to transform marginal projects into successful multi-purpose developments.
MODE founder Rhonan O’Brien told The Urban Developer the proprietary ‘Innovation Capitalisation’ (IC) approach uncovered what he called “capital in reserve”.
“We’re actually trying to encourage people to think differently about buildings,” O’Brien said.
As one of Australia’s largest multidisciplinary design firms with eight studios across Australia and New Zealand, MODE combines many disciplines under one roof—architecture, interior design, landscape architecture, urban design, and graphic design.
MODE’s CONNECTED By Design philosophy underpins everything it does, fostering integration between disciplines, sectors, and geographies.
“[It] enables optimised results,” O’Brien said.
This collaborative approach creates synergies that wouldn’t emerge in more siloed design environments.
“MODE functions as a one-stop design shop,” MODE business development and marketing co-ordinator Amir Farokhian said.
“We bring together a multidisciplinary team to create a more seamless and cohesive design process, helping projects run smoother, achieve stronger outcomes, and give clients a better experience from start to finish.”
MODE’s IC methodology considers projects through four key pillars—social, economic, environmental, and educative—to unlock new possibilities in development.
The work of MODE’s design review team begins before any design occurs, identifying opportunities that clients might not have previously considered.
“It’s about optimising infrastructure to get the best results,” O’Brien said.
“If we’re doing a hospital, we’ll ask where staff are coming from and whether there’s room for affordable accommodation on site.
“Most hospitals are in built-up urban areas where staff can’t afford to live. By providing accommodation on site, you drop travel costs significantly, benefiting both staff and the hospital.
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“For example, most stadiums get used about 50 or 60 times a year for just two to three hours. The financial return on that investment is terrible.
“A stadium should be an educational facility with all those seats looking at a stage. It should be a performance space, multi-disciplinary, and if you wrapped a hotel around it, what a fantastic asset for conferences and conventions.”
At Richmond Apartments at Bowen Hills, Queensland, MODE recognised that affordable housing residents typically need fewer car spaces than planning regulations require.
Rather than simply meeting requirements, MODE designed these areas with flat floors, good ceiling heights, and natural light and ventilation to enable future conversion.
“Our team designed the car spaces so they could be converted to a semi-commercial space, training room, a craft room or lots of other ancillary uses in the building,” O’Brien said.
“Now when those cars aren’t used, they can be converted to all those things that affordable housing doesn’t normally provide.”
Another example is the Taringa Medical Centre, which MODE transformed from what was initially considered for residential development.
“We added eight other uses to the health-oriented site—individual residences on the roof as Sky Gardens, a medi-hotel, a childcare centre, radiation bunkers, consulting suites,” O’Brien said. “Without those uses, the site would have never stacked up.”
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MODE’s work across nine different sectors creates unique opportunities for knowledge transfer.
In education, for example, MODE reimagined school landscapes through its “Cycle of Food” concept.
“What we’ve looked at doing is having all the vegetation as a food source,” O’Brien said. “Instead of having a row of jacarandas, we’ll have a row of orange trees, and the kids will learn how to pick the oranges, take them to the tuck shop. The kids see the cycle of how food comes to the table.”
This addresses a critical social issue: many children, particularly those from disadvantaged backgrounds, have limited understanding of food production beyond fast food.
By embedding food education into the physical environment, MODE creates spaces that teach without requiring additional resources.
MODE’s approach to construction efficiency focuses on prefabrication and what they call “elemental architecture”—building components offsite and assembling them onsite.
“The way to deal with construction price issues is to build things smarter, not with more labour, which is the extreme cost,” O’Brien said.
“Things like stairs and lift shafts can be prefabricated and dropped in. So, you don’t build a whole building and then transport air. You just build the elements and assemble them almost like Lego or Meccano.”
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MODE’s Camooweal Primary Health Care Centre (pictured above) is a modular project it recently delivered with Hutchies.
“Everything was built off site and put together in a matter of few weeks,” Farokhian said. “It’s a great example of how this approach makes buildings affordable and achievable, even in remote areas.”
O’Brien’s team is working on prefabricated components that are barcoded to be positioned autonomously by pre-programmed cranes, while also exploring more efficient building materials.
“Most walls now have three components—structural, acoustic, and fire. We’re looking for ways to fabricate walls as a singular entity rather than this continual buildup of systems.”
MODE’s focus extends beyond construction to ongoing operational efficiency, prioritising designs that minimise air conditioning through proper cross-ventilation, incorporate water collection systems, and integrate renewable energy.
“Solar panels and harvesting wind power on the buildings means you can do things like charge scooters and charge vehicles in the building. We create these little microcosms of energy and waste treatment.”
For build-to-rent developers, these sustainability measures lead to lower utility costs, higher net operating income and better tenant retention. For government buildings, these systems reduce operational expenses while helping meet sustainability targets.
MODE’s design philosophy and ability to execute complex projects has them leapfrogging other firms for involvement in public-private partnerships (PPP) with tier-one developers and builders.
Its work on eight schools across Western Australia resulted in “the largest project-owned solar farm in Western Australia. The school was completely free of power costs for the next 25 years”, O’Brien said.
At the Wishlist Centre in Birtinya, Queensland, what began as accommodation for hospital patients expanded to include health education spaces, research facilities, and community programs, ensuring economic sustainability while enhancing patient recovery.
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Established in 1991, MODE is now focusing on succession planning and leadership evolution, cultivating a leadership group under 40 while transitioning experienced staff into advisory roles through “MODE Advisory”.
MODE is developing a comprehensive mentorship and leadership program to nurture internal talent and knowledge transfer, which also pushes for site experience for young architects.
“A lot of architects today have never been on site,” O’Brien said. “It’s really important to get young architects to realise there’s an opportunity to claw back some of the losses we’ve had in terms of authority on the built environment.
“We’re creating clear progression pathways while closing gaps between equality and equity.”
This initiative is particularly significant given MODE’s diverse workforce comprising staff from over 30 different cultural and ethnic backgrounds, enriching their design thinking with varied perspectives and approaches to problem-solving.
Through a comprehensive approach—rethinking spaces, building more efficiently, integrating multiple uses, and developing future leaders—MODE is demonstrating how thoughtful design can make developments viable in challenging economic conditions.
“It’s about operating the building in the future,” O’Brien said, “looking beyond traditional architectural considerations and embracing the full lifecycle and potential of every development and the people who use them.”
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