Page 44 - Tropic Magazine Issue 15

INDUSTRY • BUILDING

AWARD WINNERS
In August, bálay Vandyke
received Building Design State
Awards for Best Residential
Project of 2018 for Spice at
Oak Beach and 2018 Best
Commercial Building under $5
million for South Cairns Sports
Club in Bentley Park.
The team went one better last
Design minds month, winning Best Use of
Timber at the National Building
Tropic sits down with Matt Piromalli and Sean Reason from Design Awards.
bálay Vandyke Building Design to gain insights into leading
tropical design.

Words Gavin King
Two minds are better than one, as the work come together, each with their
old saying goes. Evoking the power of own methodologies and previous
collaboration to solve problems, this successes or lessons learnt, the result Life in the tropics is one where
proverb advocates the merging of two is better service and efficiencies from
distinct personalities to summon up that point on.” you can be yourself and see
the best possible solution. Sean helped form the new entity after things grow with abundance.
In a business context, the proverb working for more than a decade at Our building aim to be
rings true in the case of Cairns- Chris Vandyke Designs, delivering receptive to these climatic
based building design studio bàlay a range of high-end residential and
Vandyke. Created by two respected educational projects throughout responses with great thought
studios earlier this year, the merger Australia and the South Pacific. going into the design and its
of the minds brings together decades The bálay half of the equation is Matt particular setting.
of experience and a deep knowledge Piromalli, who established bàlay
of tropical living into one cohesive, Building Design in 2004. The pair - Sean Reason
comprehensive firm. And the results realised the synergies and potential
for clients across the residential and growth opportunities in the merger
commercial sectors are stunning. when a range of factors began
“Knowledge is often learnt from aligning in 2017. over 40 years in the business, renowned
hard work and perseverance,” Matt explains: “The making of bálay building designer Chris Vandyke had
balay Vandyke’s Project Manager Vandyke was a solution for two similar decided that 2017 would be his final
Sean Reason explains. “When two design offices at differing stages of year designing beautiful tropical abodes
companies doing the same type of their development,” he told Tropic. With in the Far North. “With Sean’s desire

44 • Tropic • Issue 15