With ambition, hard work and an ability to think differently, Siren has flourished from a disruptive start-up into a leading interior design consultancy. Unlike traditional design practices Siren is an incubator for new ideas where experimentation is encouraged. This philosophy has served to define Siren. Each studio – first Sydney in 2005, founded by Mia Feasey, and now led by Nicole Fitzgerald; followed by Singapore, co-founded with Penny Sloane in 2012; then Melbourne co-founded with Nicole Pollak in 2014; and most recently, New York co-founded with Christina Magrans in 2020 – have all been established by dynamic, entrepreneurial women with fire in their bellies, and a desire to make an impact through the interior environment.
Siren prides themselves on going beyond the superficial aspects of design and delving into a thorough understanding of the people in the equation. Using clever design thinking to create engaging, dynamic communities, designed from the inside out.
At a board meeting a few years ago, the Siren management team came to the realisation that interior design was worse than fashion when it came to sustainability and caring for the planet. In that meeting they made a collective decision to shake things up and they set a powerful new purpose and mission: their purpose is to enable people to thrive and their mission is to use their creativity to inspire businesses to regenerate the planet.
Their mission and purpose is at the heart of everything Siren does and they strive to have positive impact wherever they can. Whether it be from simply looking at a project that might have an existing fit out and working out creative ways of repurposing elements to avoid waste, to selecting the most sustainable materials possible, focusing on improving the health and wellbeing of the people who will use the spaces they design, or finding ways to connect clients and other social enterprises who could need help and finding creative ways to combine the two. Sometimes they can have impact in small ways, sometimes it’s on a much larger scale, but their philosophy is that every action counts.
The big question the studio has faced most recently is what is the future of the workplace? What will it look like and has it changed forever? Siren’s response is to first look within, taking a purpose-led approach using the Japanese concept of ‘Ikigai’ and applying it to the built environment in a strategy they call ‘Places for Purpose’. They then use this tool to uncover the key elements of a place or a business. The aim is to go beyond the numbers, extending the thinking to address questions such as: How does this place excel? How does it contribute to the community? How do we make this place feel special? Striving to get to the heart of things so that future workplaces have ultimate flexibility and usefulness, and serve as happy, healthy community hubs for the companies that call them home.
As entrepreneurs and true creatives, the leadership team of Siren has been awarded a range of accolades including: 2020 Good Design Women in Design Award, 2018 INDE Design Luminary Award, Perspective Global 40 under 40 Design Star of the Future 2012, and 2010 NAWIC Business Woman Award to name just a few. Passionate and engaging, Siren’s founder, Mia Feasey is now using her public profile and global networks to help raise awareness and make change within the built environment and broader business community linked around Siren’s mission and purpose, and Siren’s other board members are doing the same.
This article appeared in Office Concept Design Magazine