About

We believe in the impact of great design. Design that is engaging, enriching, and enduring. Design that adds beauty and value to the world.

Great design is driven by meaningful ideas explored through research and testing, and achieved through open-minded collaboration.

It deals with complexity. It achieves outcomes that feel both unanticipated and yet obvious. It engages our emotions and sparks new conversations. It shapes our physical world as well as our culture – our lives and experiences. 

The world’s best places are always more than the sum of their parts. They go generously beyond the brief to create a better future.

Hassell’s strategy team helps clients and designers develop a deeper understanding of the organisations and people at the heart of our projects. The strategies we develop help our clients make better use of their space, set up for the future and respond to change over time.

The team brings an open-minded curiosity to their work, uncovering and sharing specific insights – rich data and analytics that boost long-term value for clients.

Our strategists come from backgrounds as varied as psychology, technology, business, architecture, art, and graphic and industrial design.

This diversity allows the team to consider and convey information like design briefs, strategies and design directions analytically, mathematically, spatially, conceptually and visually – to a range of organisations and individuals.

“Great design starts with great strategy, and great strategy starts with people.”

Evodia Alaterou, Hassell Design Strategy Lead

Our in-house research team conducts original research on topics as diverse as why design matters to nurses, what makes campuses relevant to students in the age of digital learning, whether design is a factor in attracting talent and the similarities and differences between incubators, accelerators and co-working spaces.

A team of practical-minded thinkers with plenty of experience in the field, our researchers help design teams and clients understand how trends will affect the spaces we design together, providing early insight into how to future-proof projects.

Our researchers typically work in partnership with universities and industry experts worldwide, and they’ve garnered plenty of recognition and awards for their work over the years.

Our global design technology and innovation team is focused on how we can harness new and emerging technologies to elevate our design process – and our design outcomes. The powerful tools we use help us create buildings and spaces that are flexible enough to capitalise on the innovations of tomorrow.

Our capabilities include:

• BIM – With more than 150 specialists in Building Information Modelling, we deploy this critical technology on large, complex projects such as Optus Stadium in Perth, Australia, an award-winning venue with a benchmark BIM process recognised at the international Autodesk Conference in 2019.
• Virtual reality – VR brings our evolving projects to life for clients and users. On the University of Brighton business school in the UK, we employed it for everything from in-house design development to client presentations to consultation with university staff. 
• Computational design – We use computational tools such as parametric models to solve complex geometrical problems - like designing a spiral staircase for the WA Museum Boola Bardip.
  

Our team is also actively involved in conversations about next-gen thinking in our industry as well as future-focused design competitions like NASA’s 3-D Printed Habitat Challenge.

Experience masterplanners FreeState have built their reputation working alongside some of the world’s biggest brands - like Google, Sony and Virgin Atlantic.

Today, their practice supports Hassell and their clients across a range of sectors and markets.

FreeState starts with users’ needs, then designs outwards - for students, passengers, employees, visitors or customers. They’re focused on the emotions and needs that shape a world-class experience masterplan. Their teams use a unique methodology that relies on ethnographic research, human insight and truth, and creativity to ensure brands and organisations attract, engage and retain their audience. 

FreeState’s people come from a variety of backgrounds, including design strategy, management consulting, spatial design, place-making, technology and brand. That diversity helps them partner with clients to create user-centric narratives - designed journeys and immersive experiences that connect people with brands, each other and places they’ll never forget. 

“What we’ve seen really clearly over the past 20 years is a shift into the era of experience. People are increasingly placing value on ​‘experiences’ over ​‘things’ – and their expectations of those experiences are very high.”

Adam Scott, FreeState Creative Director