Laterally minded design and architecture collective SIBLING is forging spaces where people and ideas intersect.

By Katya Wachtel APR 2015

The redbrick building at number four Wood Street, Fitzroy began its life as a clothing factory, but sometime during the 20th century it became a magnet for architects and urbanists. Prior tenants have included the experimental and often controversial architect Ivan Rijavec (a curvilinear interior wall stands as a lasting symbol of his occupancy) and Rory Hyde, who’s now the Curator of Contemporary Architecture and Urbanism at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. The current tenant, design collective SIBLING, took up residency in 2013.

The two-storey building in Melbourne’s inner-north butts up against a narrow park called Condell Reserve, which in 2010 received government approval to remain an open space until at least 2060.

“The park used to have terraces on it, opposite here,” says Timothy Moore, one of SIBLING’s founders, gesturing to the grassy expanse and the row of small, low-slung houses beyond it. At the western end of the reserve stands the grand, grey Fitzroy Town Hall – a fitting neighbour for an architecture studio with such a strong civic remit. “City council is trying to build more pocket parks because there’s not much green space in this area,” he says. It’s a plan Moore and SIBLING – who are serious advocates of shared public space – would no doubt endorse.

Founded in 2012 by four men and four women – Amelia Borg, Jonathan Brener, Jessica Brent, Jane Caught, Qianyi Lim, Alan Ting, Nicholas Braun and Moore – SIBLING designs spaces that aim to stimulate human interaction and connectedness. “What drives us is a desire to be ... Subscribe to read this article in full