Local Cairns architectural practice Power Graham Dempsey has joined forces with national firm Suters Architects - the new entity to be known as SutersPGD.

The firm says it will provide the “best of both worlds for Cairns — local people, supported by national resources”.

Directors from around the country will meet tomorrow for the first ever Board Meeting to be held in Cairns in the company’s new offices in Cairns Square.

“Joining forces was a natural progression,” says Suters’ Queensland Managing Principal, Geoff Street. “Suters and Power Graham Dempsey have been working on a number of projects together since Suters opened its Cairns office in 2008.

James Cook University Dentistry Building by SutersPGD Architects. Image: Steve Rutherford

Many of those projects will be familiar to Cairns residents, from the Qantas Club at the airport and the new Emergency Department at Cairns Base Hospital, to the Dental School at JCU and the Tully Multi-Purposed Centre.

PGD was founded in 1980 by Neal Graham when he moved back to Cairns after studying architecture in Townsville and working in Brisbane, Perth, London and Brunei.

Over the past 30 years the company has worked on several significant projects in the region including Barron George Visitors Centres, Cairns Council Library, Cazaly’s AFL Club and the Hopgood Memorial Entrance.

Tully Multi-Purposed Centre

Graham was also been active in local architectural circles and is a fellow of the Australian Institute of Architects as well as past Secretary of the AIA’s Cairns Area Committee.

“We feel very lucky to have someone of Neal’s calibre running the Cairns office,” says Street. Obviously he brings an understanding of the local commercial landscape and the built environment issues of the region to SutersPGD, but he also brings over 40 years of architectural experience and is an invaluable mentor for our more junior Cairns staff,” says Street.

Graham said: “Being able to tap into the wider experiences and project intelligence of the other senior architects at Suters is fantastic,” says Mr Graham. “Cairns staff are also being exposed to new project types via Suters’ national client base.”

Suters was founded in Newcastle, NSW in 1958, and now employs 200 people with additional offices in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane and alliances with practices in Canberra and Perth. The company opened a Cairns office two and a half years ago, moving two staff members from Newcastle and Brisbane to establish the office.