In the context of medium-to-large architectural firms in Perth, MJA Studio is something of an unusual case. In its former iteration as McDonald Jones Architects, it was a medium-sized practice with a focus on the aged-care sector. The office transformed between 2011 (12 people) and 2015, when a succession plan was enacted. This sort of shift can be damaging if not managed well; I would hazard a guess that few practices – at least in Perth – have renewed themselves as profoundly as MJA. Today, 10 years after its handover, it is an office of 35 to 40 people, with the average age of its ownership group being only 43. To contextualise this, Howlett and Bailey won the Perth
