Cumulus Studio

Cumulus Studio is an Australian architecture and interior design practice established in 2011 and headquartered in Tasmania. The practice has additional studios in Launceston, Melbourne and Adelaide. The studio is led by directors Kylee Scott, Todd Henderson, and Peter Walker, and employs a team architects, interior designers, designers and support staff.

Cumulus Studio has received multiple Australian Institute of Architects (AIA) state and national awards across categories including public, commercial, educational, residential and urban design architecture. The practice's portfolio spans tourism, hospitality, social housing, heritage, adaptive reuse and residential projects. In 2023, Cumulus became a certified B Corporation.

History

Cumulus Studio was founded in 2011 by Peter Walker, Todd Henderson and Kylee Scott, all graduates of the University of Tasmania's School of Architecture and Design. Todd Henderson and Peter Walker were both winners of the AIA Tasmanian Emerging Architect Prize. More than half of the practice's staff are graduates of the University of Tasmania.

The name Cumulus derives from the Latin word meaning "heap" or "accumulate", reflecting the founders' collaborative approach to design. The practice was established simultaneously in Hobart and Launceston during the global financial crisis, with the founders' first project being a residential house in Launceston built on the site of a former tennis court.

The Melbourne studio was established in 2016 (by Keith Westbrook who left the practice in 2026), and an Adelaide office was subsequently opened in 2020. In May 2023, Cumulus was certified as a B Corporation, becoming only the second Tasmanian-owned business to achieve the certification. The practice also holds ISO 14001 (Environmental Management), ISO 45001 (Occupational Health and Safety) and ISO 9001 (Quality Management) certifications.

Cradle Mountain Visitor Centre

The Cradle Mountain Visitor Centre, completed in 2020 for the Tasmania Parks and Wildlife Service, is a sculptural alpine building at the gateway to the Cradle Mountain-Lake St Clair National Park and Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area. The development includes an orientation building, commercial services base, shuttle bus shelter and coach transit centre, and was the first stage of a broader masterplan for the precinct that Cumulus had developed since 2016.

The building's form references the angular dolerite geology of Cradle Mountain, with the design described by the AIA jury as creating "a highly legible sequence that celebrates the path of movement towards the mountain".

The project won the Alan C Walker Award for Public Architecture, the Dirk Bolt Award for Urban Design, and the COLORBOND Award for Steel Architecture at the 2021 AIA Tasmanian Architecture Awards, and was shortlisted for the 2021 National Architecture Awards. It also won two categories at the 2021 Architizer A+Awards: Cultural & Expo Centres (Jury Winner) and Transportation Infrastructure (Jury Winner), from a field of over 5,000 entries across more than 100 countries.

Devil's Corner Cellar Door and Lookout

The Devil's Corner Cellar Door and Lookout (2015, expanded 2021) is a tourism destination at the Devil's Corner vineyard on Tasmania's east coast, designed for Brown Brothers. The project comprises a lookout tower, cellar door, and food market, designed as a collection of timber-clad structures — including repurposed shipping containers — that form a contemporary interpretation of a traditional rural settlement. The project was published on ArchDaily and Dezeen.

Devil's Corner won the Colin Philp Award for Commercial Architecture and the COLORBOND Award for Steel Architecture at the 2016 AIA Tasmanian Architecture Awards, received a National Commendation for Commercial Architecture at the 2016 National Architecture Awards, and won the Architizer A+Award for Commercial Mixed Use (Jury Winner) in 2017.

Dove Lake Viewing Shelter

The Dove Lake Viewing Shelter (2023), also at Cradle Mountain, won the Award for Public Architecture and the EmAGN Project Award at the 2023 AIA Tasmanian Architecture Awards.

Callington Mill Distillery

The Callington Mill Distillery in Oatlands won the Award for Commercial Architecture at the 2023 AIA Tasmanian Architecture Awards, with the jury describing it as a "sophisticated addition" to existing heritage fabric.

Goulburn Street Housing

The Goulburn Street Housing project in inner Hobart is a social housing development designed for Housing Tasmania. The project won the Ray Heffernan Award for Residential Architecture (Multiple Housing) and an Award for Urban Design at the 2022 AIA Tasmanian Architecture Awards, and was a finalist in the Affordable Housing category of the 2022 Architizer A+Awards.

Other notable projects

Other recognised projects include:

• Lady Gowrie Tasmania Integrated Centre for Children and Families – Sydney Blythe Award for Educational Architecture, 2017 AIA Tasmanian Architecture Awards
• Stoney Rise Cellar Door – Award for Commercial Architecture, 2021 AIA Tasmanian Architecture Awards
• Protagonist (Arts Centre Melbourne forecourt café) – design competition winner, 2018
• Stillwater Seven – boutique hotel, Launceston (2019)
• Thousand Lakes Lodge – alpine wilderness lodge, Tasmanian Central Highlands

Awards

Cumulus Studio was named one of the 30 Best Architecture and Design Firms in Australia - securing the number one spot in 2024.

At the Australian Institute of Architects Tasmanian Chapter Awards, Cumulus has won awards across every major category, with wins recorded in 2012, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2019, 2021, 2022 and 2023. The practice has also received Australian Timber Design Awards in 2011, 2014 and 2016, and API Excellence in Property Awards in 2015 and 2016.

Design approach

The practice operates as a single entity across its four studios, with all offices collaborating on projects regardless of location. Cumulus describes its approach as collaborative and non-stylistic, preferring that each design emerge from the specific conditions of client and site.

The studio integrates sustainability principles from the outset of each project, informed by practical considerations of budget, site and available technology. The practice is a signatory to Architects Declare and has committed to achieving net zero operations by 2030.

See also

• Architecture of Australia
• B Corporation (certification)
• Cradle Mountain

External links

• Cumulus Studio at ArchitectureAu
• Cumulus Studio at Architizer