Social Works

About Social Works

Social Works is a building and interior design studio based in Sydney and Los Angeles.

We design buildings, interiors, and activations that bring people together. Whether that’s around a kitchen island, across a hidden plaza, or along a winding fence, we use the utility of architecture to facilitate connection. From the first sketch to the final walk-through, our studio creates unique designs for unique clients, overseeing the design and delivery from start to finish.

Our portfolio spans continents with projects like a house that connects generations in Arizona, an office that invites in customers in Tokyo, or a home that reaches out to its neighborhood in Los Angeles. Wherever the client, we draw on our international experience to create contextually rich, culturally responsive, site-specific outcomes.

Clients and Collaborators

Cleo Restaurant, Decade, Shikfa, Good American, Madhappy, Playlab Inc., Chromeo, A-Track, Fool’s Gold Records, Hand LLC.

Writing and Press

Frame Magazine, Divisare, Timeout, Hypebeast, Superfuture, The Post, Architecture Australia, The West Australian, Brooklyn Museum.

Contact

AUS +61 434-988-146
USA +1 310-430-8602

Email: office@socialworks.studio
Instagram: @socialsocialworks
LinkedIn: Social Works

Founder

Social Works was founded and is directed by Jesse Taylor. He holds a Master of Architecture with Higher Award from the University of Western Australia and has taught design studios at the University of New South Wales and the University of Western Australia. He has also served on multiple jury panels across Australia and the US, including at Columbia University, Cal Poly Pomona, the University of Sydney, and the University of Technology Sydney. In March 2021, alongside Georgia Taylor-Berry, he was awarded the inaugural Sculpture by the Sea Artist Award.

Prior to founding Social Works, Jesse worked at several architecture firms, including Mark Haddawy in Los Angeles, Food/Family Architects in New York, and Hassell in Perth. His clients and collaborators have included Virgil Abloh, Tom Sachs, Kanye West and Kim Kardashian, Axel Vervoordt, Playlab Inc., and Fool’s Gold.

Social Works acknowledges, thanks, and pays respect to the Traditional Owners and Custodians of the lands on which we work and live, including the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation in Australia and the Tongva, Tataviam, Serrano, Kizh, and Chumash peoples in the United States.

Approach

Architecture can do far more than offer security and shelter; It can bring us together, it can offer us rest, it can focus us, heal us, enliven and enrich us. That’s what we love about it, and that’s how we approach it.

We begin every project by purposefully withholding any preconceived notions of what a building or space should look or feel like. While our design process may bring us back to proven architectural conventions, our interest lies in thoughtfully advancing building typologies to meet contemporary needs.

Our design process is conceptually structured and highly responsive, allowing each project to emerge from the unique requirements and opportunities of each client, brief, and site.

When we create in direct response to how a family wants to connect, a community wants to meet, or a patron wants to eat, it allows us to create thoughtful, innovative designs that are shaped not by style or aesthetic but by the many ways we live.