Alexander Symes Architect is a Sydney-based design studio founded in 2014 by architect Alexander Symes. The firm specializes in high-performance, sustainable architecture, with a strong focus on Passive House principles and low-impact residential design. Rooted in both scientific rigor and poetic understanding of space, the studio creates comfortable, resilient homes that protect biodiversity and respond thoughtfully to evolving climate conditions.
Alexander Symes brings extensive expertise in building physics, façade systems, and design-for-manufacture-assembly (DFMA), along with experience from Arup’s Building Physics and Façade Engineering teams. Certified as a Passive House Designer and a signatory to Architects Declare, the studio embeds environmental responsibility into every stage of the design process—from briefing to execution—ensuring that each project is both technically grounded and meaningfully connected to place.
LOCATION: Sydney, Australia
LEARN MORE: Alexander Symes Architect
In the beach town of Mollymook, a well-known home called Cake House has been brought back to life. Locals and surfers once used its sharp, kite-shaped roof as a landmark. Architect Alexander Symes kept this unique shape…
Fun Haus seeks to push preconceptions of space per person on a small 117m2 urban site in Inner City Sydney. The primary dwelling is constructed behind the existing cottage frontage and a secondary detached dwelling sits along…
Pepper Tree Passive House is a sustainable secondary dwelling introduced to a suburban Illawarra home, designed to be nestled within the eponymous Pepper Tree’s canopy and built to the highly rigorous Passive House standard, the most sustainable…
Located in the middle of a bull paddock sits an off-grid home inspired by the iconic Australian Akubra hat. This inspiration came about at the first meeting with the clients on their bull farm, around 50mins southeast…
