At the turn of the 20th Century, Lauritz Hansen jumped ship in Melbourne to work as a market gardener, labourer and charcoal burner. At the same time, Otto Yuncken, the son of a German cabinet-maker, enrolled at the Melbourne Working Men’s College, winning first place in his architectural drawing and carpentry exams.

Both were driven by a hunger to construct a better world. Their partnership in 1918, formed with a handshake and a short one-page agreement, led to the creation of some of the nation’s most iconic buildings.

A century later, with thousands of projects completed, 600 staff across nine offices, and annual turnover exceeding $1 billion, we’ve never lost sight of that original drive for a better way of doing things.