Trade skill, design thinking
Arris² sits between the architect who draws the idea and the trade who has to build it — resolving the detail that is not on the page, and delivering the piece the design intended.
How we work
A piece has to belong where it lands
A one-off piece is not an object you drop into a finished space. It has to answer the architecture and the landscape around it — the levels it meets, the materials it sits against, the light it will take, the way people move past it.
That is why the questions come first. What is it for, where exactly is it going, what is it flowing into, and what has to be true for it to work. Get those answered and the build is a process. Skip them and it is a gamble on an expensive, unrepeatable pour.
What we make
One-off pieces
Architectural and floating stairs
Cantilevered flights, floating treads and full runs, set out from measured heights rather than assumed ones.
Water features
Troughs, spill edges and basins where the water has to sit and move exactly as drawn.
Seating and benches
Cast seating that reads as part of the landscape rather than an object placed on it.
Letterboxes and entry statements
The first piece anyone sees, and usually the one they look at longest.
Landscape features
Retaining, planters, steps and platforms that hold a level and a line across a site.
Custom concrete forms
Pieces that exist as a concept and nothing more, resolved into something buildable.
The process
Most contractors start at formwork. That is where the trouble starts.
Plenty of outfits will not touch the excavation or the footings — they arrive once the hole is dug and someone else has set the levels. Arris² owns the whole sequence, because every one of these stages decides something that cannot be corrected later.
Dug to the levels the piece actually needs
Before anything is dug, the heights, falls and levels get checked against the drawing — and against the site as it really is. This is where a set of stairs gains or loses a step.
Sized for the load, including what hangs in the air
A cantilevered bench or a floating flight puts load somewhere a standard footing does not expect. The footing is designed for the piece, not for the category of piece.
Braced for the pressure it is about to take
Formwork is where a background in structural form work earns its keep. Under-brace it and you get a blowout; miss a screw and you get a blowout. There is no partial failure here.
Detailed for the span before anything is poured
Reinforcement is set out for the actual geometry — the spans, the cantilevers, the thickness the design calls for. Once the concrete is in, this is invisible and permanent.
Timed to the mix, the temperature and the day
Concrete behaves differently depending on the mix, temperature, humidity, weather and timing. A pour today and a pour tomorrow go two different ways. Timing is the whole job.
Worked to the edge the piece is read by
The arris — the edge where two surfaces meet — determines how the whole piece reads. A flawless face with a poor edge looks wrong. A good edge carries a piece a long way.
Before we start
We check the things that are not on the drawing
Architects hand over a concept. Often there are no working drawings behind it, and the construction detail has to be resolved before anyone can price it, let alone build it.
On a recent entry stair the drawing was short by two steps once the real heights were measured. Found before excavation, that is a variation and a conversation. Found after the pour, it is the whole piece again.
Finish
Mix, texture, edge
Colour, aggregate, texture and edge treatment all move independently, and they read differently at different scales. Samples are made and approved before work proceeds — the architect sees and signs off the finish, not a description of it.
Questions
Throw questions at me
On one Toorak job the first meeting was four people walking the site, firing questions. That is the right way round. If a specialist cannot answer on the spot, the risk lands back on you.
No. A good share of this work starts from a concept and nothing else. The heights, falls, levels and construction detail get resolved first, then it gets priced from something real.
Yes, and early. If a piece cannot be built the way it is drawn, you will hear it before anyone is committed — along with what would work instead. Nothing gets started on a hope.
The whole sequence — excavation, footings, formwork, steel, pour and finish. It is one scope with one person accountable, which is the point.
Very little. Plans get read, problems get raised, and the work proceeds. The usual check is a pre-pour inspection against heights, positions and grid lines.
Yes. Samples are produced for inspection and approval before the work proceeds. That is a standard step, not a favour.
Because it is a different scope and a different trade. The front half of the process — the part most quotes leave out — is what decides whether the piece is right. There is one attempt at it, and remediation costs more than doing it properly.
Proof
Recent projects
Send through what you have
Drawings, a concept, or a conversation about whether something is even possible. All three are a fine place to start.