Fender Katsalidis (FK) is an architecture firm which originated in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, and now has additional studios in Sydney and Brisbane.[1] Founded by Karl Fender and Nonda Katsalidis, the firm has been notable since the early 1990s, producing many landmark buildings in Melbourne and other Australian cities. The firm has previously been known as Nation Fender, then Nation Fender Katsalidis (from 1996) and later Fender Katsalidis.[2]
FK buildings are distinctive, often very sculptural, they also feature a variety of materials and textures such as exposed steel, left to the weather, or rough hewn timber. Australian Institute of Architects Gold Medallist Peter Wilson has described this material palette as reminiscent of "ageing boat hulls or rough woodsheds and agricultural structures built by first settlers in the Australian landscape."[3] An early FK project involved the conversion of former grain silos in Richmond, a Melbourne suburb, into distinctive apartments featuring balconies resembling a ship's bow. FK also designed Eureka Tower completed in June 2006 in Southbank, which has become Melbourne's tallest building and one of the tallest residential buildings in the world.
