Architecture & Interior Design · Melbourne

The spaces you inhabit shape the life you live.

Studio Forma designs homes, interiors and commercial spaces for people who understand that architecture is not decoration — it is the architecture of a life.

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James Whitmore, Principal Architect, Studio Forma

Est. 2011 — Melbourne

We design for the long arc.

Studio Forma — Australian residential architecture

Studio Forma was founded by principal architect James Whitmore in Melbourne in 2011. After a decade working with leading firms in London and Tokyo, James returned to Australia with a singular conviction: that great architecture must be rooted in its landscape, its climate and the specific life of the people who will inhabit it.

We are a small studio by design. Every project is led personally by James and his team of four. We do not scale. We do not franchise. We take between eight and twelve projects per year — and we give each one everything we have.

Our work spans custom residential homes, adaptive reuse projects and high-end hospitality interiors. What connects every project is the same question: what does this space need to become for the people who will live inside it?

James Whitmore — RAIA Registered Architect

Master of Architecture — Royal College of Art, London

20+ completed residential and commercial projects

Published: Architectural Review Australia · Vogue Living · Belle Magazine

RAIA Victorian Architecture Award — Residential, 2022

Portfolio

The work speaks.

Eltham, Victoria · Custom Residential · 2023

The Ridge House

A 420sqm family home embedded into a steep north-facing ridgeline. Rammed earth walls, blackbutt timber, a rooftop garden that becomes the ceiling of the living room. Designed around the movement of light through the site across all four seasons.

Fitzroy, Melbourne · Adaptive Reuse · 2022

Silo Apartment

A heritage grain silo converted into a 3-level home. The circular geometry becomes the organising principle of every room. RAIA Award winner 2022.

South Yarra · Hospitality · 2023

Ora Restaurant

A 90-seat fine dining restaurant where the kitchen is the centrepiece and the dining room wraps around it in concentric arcs.

Flinders, Mornington Peninsula · Residential · 2024

Cliffside Retreat

A weekend home on a limestone cliff. Three pavilions connected by a covered walkway. Entirely off-grid.

Collingwood, Melbourne · Commercial · 2021

The Studio

A 1920s warehouse transformed into a photography and creative studio. Industrial bones left intact and celebrated; new insertions in brass and glass.

How a Project Begins

Eight steps from conversation to completion.

Discovery Call

30 minutes. We listen. You talk. We work out if this is the right fit.

Site Visit & Brief

We come to you. We walk the site, understand the light, meet the landscape.

Concept Design

Hand sketches and physical models before any software. Ideas in their most honest form.

Design Development

Refined drawings, material boards, 3D spatial modelling.

Documentation

Full architectural drawings and specifications for council and contractor.

Approvals

We manage the planning and building permit process entirely.

Construction

We visit site fortnightly minimum. Nothing is built without our sign-off.

Completion

We photograph the finished project and hand over a full as-built documentation package.

What Clients Say

The measure of a space.

Working with Studio Forma was the best decision we made in building our home. James listened in a way that I've never experienced with a professional before — he understood not just what we wanted the house to look like but how we wanted to feel inside it. Three years on, the house still surprises us.

David & Claire R.

The Ridge House, Eltham

We gave James a difficult brief — a heritage building we loved but couldn't figure out how to live in. He found a solution that felt so obvious once we saw it that we couldn't believe we hadn't thought of it ourselves. That's the mark of a genuinely good architect.

Michael T.

Silo Apartment, Fitzroy

Ora has become one of Melbourne's most photographed restaurant interiors. We receive comments about the space every single service. James understood instinctively that the room needed to make the food look more beautiful, not compete with it.

Chef Anna Papadopoulos

Ora Restaurant, South Yarra

Common Questions

Everything you need to know.

What is your minimum project size? +

We work on residential projects from $800K construction value and commercial projects assessed individually. This reflects the depth of attention every project receives — we are not the right studio for smaller scope work.

How long does the design process take? +

A custom residential project typically takes 14–24 months from first meeting to construction start. Construction adds a further 12–18 months depending on complexity. We don't rush. Neither should you.

Do you work outside Melbourne? +

Yes. We have completed projects on the Mornington Peninsula, the Victorian high country, regional NSW and Queensland. We assess interstate and regional projects individually based on site complexity and our current capacity.

Can we buy just the design? +

No. The integrity of our projects depends on our involvement through construction. Architecture on paper is a starting point — the real work happens on site. We do not offer design-only services.

How do fees work? +

Our fees are calculated as a percentage of construction value — typically 10–14% for full architectural services, depending on project complexity. We provide a detailed fee proposal following the discovery call and site visit.

What makes Studio Forma different? +

Scale and attention. We take fewer projects than most studios our size precisely so that James is personally involved in every design decision on every project. You will not be handed to a junior. You will not be a number on a spreadsheet.

Begin Here

Every extraordinary space begins with a conversation.

Tell us about your project. We'll tell you honestly whether we're the right fit.

We respond to every enquiry within 2 business days. We're selective — and honest about fit from the first conversation.