Small Architecture
We pay respect to the Traditional Owners of the land on which we practice, the Wangal and Gadigal Clans, and of the many Nations all across Australia and the Torres Straight Islands. We pay respect to Elders past and present.
DLA is an architectural design practice based in Bulanaming / Marrickville in Sydney’s Inner West. We offer a full suite of services for residential, education and small commercial projects, and practice throughout the Sydney Metropolitan area and regional NSW. We are a certified Passive House design practice.
Our focus is on creating considered, well designed and responsible buildings for our clients. We pride ourselves on our open and collaborative approach and our commitment to sustainability. This is a practice founded with love and passion.
DLA is headed by Darren Livings, a registered Architect in NSW with over a decade of experience in the architectural practice in Australia. Darren has spent the majority of his career in commercial architectural offices, leading projects in both Australia and abroad.
We are driven by a commitment to sustainability, it’s at the core of who we are.
We want to make a difference, and the best way we know how is by addressing the buildings in which we live, work and meet.
Did you know that around 40% of the world’s carbon emissions are associated with the built environment? This is both through the energy taken to make a building (from the sourcing of natural materials, refining and transportation of products, through to the act of construction), and the energy needed to operate the building. Little changes, such as choosing low carbon materials or, evern better, reducing the amount of material required to build, and designing buildings to work as efficiently as possible, can make a huge difference to the carbon footprint of a building.
By using good design, smart solutions and a consideration of a project’s life cycle, we can build buildings that not only look after us but are also better for the environment.
As a signatory on the Architect’s Declare movement, DLA acknowledges our role and responsibility as a practice.
We’re very excited about the next steps for the practice, as we move to benchmark the carbon intensity of all of our projects to work towards reducing carbon on a path to net zero.