Matthews Architects

What Matthews Architects does

Matthews Architects is a privately held architecture and interior design firm headquartered at 262 Melbourne Street, North Adelaide, South Australia. Founded in 1975 by Barry Matthews and now led by his son Gerald Matthews as sole Director (since 2018), the firm provides full-service architectural design, interior design, documentation, and contract administration across five practice sectors: education, commercial, residential, care/healthcare, and retail/hospitality. The current studio comprises approximately 15 staff, down from a historical Adelaide peak of around 30 in the 1990s, and operates as a family-owned practice with no external investment or private equity involvement.

The firm's operating model centres on multidisciplinary, non-siloed project teams in which individual architects work across all project stages from concept to completion rather than being allocated to specialised departments, a structure the firm itself describes as distinctive in modern design studios. Revenue is generated through project-based professional service fees for design, documentation, and contract administration on individual commissions, with no publicly disclosed pricing. Client acquisition relies on direct relationships, repeat business (notably a long-standing partnership with developer Emmett), referrals, and competitive public tendering for government and institutional projects. The firm's project portfolio includes award-winning commercial work such as the CMI Toyota West Terrace showroom (2011 Australian Institute of Architects Commercial Architecture Award and Keith Neighbour Award), the BMW Adelaide showroom, Mercedes-Benz Vans, the Hewlett Packard House commercial development, the Burnside Hospital expansion, the 3,248m² Can:Do Group southern facility for the disability community, and education projects including the Ellen Benham Science Centre, Saint Peter's College Pentreath Middle School, and the Ngutu College redevelopment.

Geographically, Matthews Architects operates from a single Adelaide studio and primarily serves South Australian and national Australian clients. The firm previously expanded interstate to Melbourne in 1990 and to Darwin in 1995 (via merger with local competitors), and held a 10-year joint venture with universities in Beijing and Shanghai from 1995 to 2005, after which it refocused on the Australian market. The firm holds ISO 45001 Work Health and Safety certification and has received multiple industry awards, including Australian Institute of Architects commendations, Learning Environments recognition (2022 Overall Winner, 2024 Commendation), and a 2022 South Australia Steel Excellence Award. It celebrated its 50-year practice milestone in 2025.

Name

Matthews Architects

Legal name

Matthews Architects

Website

https://matthewsarchitects.com.au

Company type

Private

Founded year

1975

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Matthews Architects is a privately held Adelaide-based architecture and interior design firm founded in 1975, serving education, commercial, residential, care/healthcare, and retail/hospitality clients through project-based professional services with a 15-person multidisciplinary team led by Director Gerald Matthews.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Architecture Services

NAICS

Architectural Services (54131), Interior Design Services (54141)

akta.pro primary industry

Architectural Design Services (BPAHAKAA)

Keywords

• Architecture services
• Interior design
• Educational facility design
• Healthcare architecture
• Commercial building design

Headquarters

HQ city

North Adelaide

HQ country

Australia

HQ region

Oceania

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Architecture and Design Services: Professional architectural and interior design services for projects across education, commercial, residential, healthcare, aged care, retail, and hospitality sectors. Revenue generated through design fees, documentation services, and contract administration on completed projects.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Matthews Architects is an Adelaide-based architecture and interior design firm providing full-service design from concept through to contract administration. The firm delivers projects across five core sectors — Education, Commercial, Residential, Care (healthcare and aged care), and Retail & Hospitality — leveraging a non-siloed team structure where architects remain engaged with projects from start to finish.

Product overview

Matthews Architects is an Adelaide-based architecture and interior design firm offering comprehensive design services across multiple sectors. The firm operates as a unified practice providing architectural services, interior design, and project delivery across Education, Commercial, Residential, Care (healthcare and aged care), and Retail & Hospitality sectors. The company is structured around multidisciplinary project teams rather than modular products, with architects leading projects from concept through completion. Notable projects include award-winning commercial buildings such as the CMI Toyota West Terrace (2011 Australian Institute of Architects awards), BMW Adelaide showroom, Mercedes Benz Vans showroom, and Hewlett Packard House. The firm also specializes in healthcare facilities including disability services (Can:Do, EBL Disability Services), aged care facilities, and medical centres, as well as educational projects and adaptive reuse of heritage buildings.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Architecture Services
• Interior Design

Quantifiable outcome

• 2011 SA Chapter Australian Institute of Architects Commercial Architecture Award and Keith Neighbour Award for CMI Toyota West Terrace
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers15 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature2 records

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered minor and core.

• HLM ArchitectsminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2007UK-based architecture firm where Gerald Matthews worked from 2007-2008 during his time overseas. During this period he worked on an educationally transformative new school in Wales, large-scale commercial projects, and a new hospital. This experience began Gerald's personal passion for learning environment architecture.
• Chinese Universities (Beijing and Shanghai)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 199510-year collaboration with teaching universities in Beijing and Shanghai starting in 1995. The joint venture led to major residential and commercial projects in China, concluding in 2005. This expanded the firm's international experience and deepened understanding of global design contexts and large-scale project delivery.
• Emmett (Emmett Property / Emmett Group)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerLong-standing development partner for numerous projects including Centrelink Salisbury, Wayne Richardson Sales, Go East Karaoke, and various automotive showrooms. Emmett has commissioned multiple Matthews Architects projects over the years.
• Paynter DixonminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership with Adelaide project management firm enabling access to larger commercial projects in the 1990s.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves11 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Dash Architects: South Australian architecture firm delivering projects across residential, commercial, education, and community sectors at a comparable boutique scale to Matthews Architects.
• Studio Nine Architects: Adelaide-based architecture practice of comparable size serving similar education, commercial, residential, and healthcare clients across South Australia — closest direct mid-sized local competitor.
• JPE Design Studio: Adelaide-based multi-disciplinary architecture and interior design practice operating across commercial, education, healthcare, and residential sectors — directly overlapping service offering and geographic market.
• Wallbridge Gilbert Aztec: Adelaide-founded engineering and architecture consultancy providing integrated design across commercial, health, education, and community sectors — overlapping service categories and South Australian client base.
• Sutton Architects: Boutique Adelaide architecture firm delivering heritage adaptation, commercial, and residential projects — comparable scale and overlapping expertise in heritage-sensitive and multi-sector design.
• Brown Falconer: Adelaide-based architecture practice working across residential, commercial, education, and aged care — direct competitor for similar mid-scale commissions in the South Australian market.
• Grieve Gillett Andersen: Adelaide-headquartered architecture practice with strong education, health, and community portfolios — comparable boutique scale with overlapping public-sector client base.

Broad incumbents

• HASSELL: Leading Australian architecture and design firm with Adelaide presence, working across education, healthcare, workplace, and urban design — overlapping client base and project typologies with Matthews Architects.
• Woods Bagot: Major Australian-headquartered architecture practice with global presence operating across commercial, education, healthcare, and hospitality sectors — directly comparable sector mix to Matthews but at significantly larger scale.

Regional players

• HLM Architects: UK-based architecture firm where Director Gerald Matthews worked from 2007-2008; comparable multi-sector practice with particular strength in education and healthcare — relevant as a talent pipeline and design philosophy reference.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/matthewsarchitects
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/matthewsarchitects

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles7 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Matthews Architects