Talking Architecture & Design

Chris Nunn is the former Head of Sustainability at AMP Capital Real Estate, which has a portfolio valued at approximately $28 billion, consisting of approximately 100 shopping centres, offices and industrial assets. He is also the winner of the Lifetime Achievement award at the 2022 Sustainability Awards and a man who's whole working career has been about promoting the concept of sustainable...

Winner of the 2022 Emerging Sustainable Architect Award , Marni Reti is a proud Palawa and Ngātiwai woman, born and raised on Gadigal land.  She graduated from the Masters of Architecture from UTS where she was one of the first recipients of the inaugural Droga Indigenous Architecture Scholarship, a prestigious scholarship aimed at fostering new Indigenous talent in the world of architecture. Marn...

Alexander Symes founded his eponymous architecture firm in 2014 with a mission to advance sustainable architecture.  The winner of numerous awards, including the Single Dwelling (new) and Best of the Best awards at the 2022 Sustainability awards, Alex has specialist training in the design and delivery of passive houses which we believe offer a pathway towards exceptionally comfortable and healthy...

While at Carr, David Brooks worked across many multi-residential projects, as well as the award-winning United Places hotel. In each project, his aim was to bring an effortless, natural characteristic that makes for comfortable, accessible, and liveable spaces.  Motivated by transforming ideas into an object while balancing art and science, David’s approach is typified by working at the macro and...

The Urban Development Institute of Australia, Victorian Division (UDIA Victoria) CEO Matthew Kandelaars talks about what part of urban development he thinks we get right here in Australia, and what part we get wrong, and will Australians ever fall in love with high density living?  

Koos de Keijzer, founding partner and Principal of DKO Architecture, has built a highly regarded role as an urban designer and architect, with particular expertise in residential developments. DKO Architecture is an award-winning design practice with offices in Australia, New Zealand and Vietnam. In this wide-ranging interview, he talks about  hotel design, the future of office space and the rise...

Our continuing conversation with architect, lecturer, social commentator and columnist Tone Wheeler on the history of house designer and builder AV Jennings, some lesser-known Australian architects and the influence of architecture on the growth and maturing of Australian suburbia.

Daniel Smith started Leaf Architecture in 2015 with the intention of creating a practice that has a strong focus and understanding of pedagogy and education design.  Since then, Daniel  has developed a significant portfolio of public and community projects completed over the last decade, and has been involved in all facets of architectural projects; including client consultation, master planning,...

Melbourne’s Seafarers development embodies sustainable luxury. The former site of the city’s Goods Shed No. 5, Seafarers shapes up as a project that will define Melbourne, with its adaptive reuse and sustainable design methods the embodiment of contemporary architecture and interior design. For this episode of Talking Architecture & Design, Assistant Editor Jarrod Reedie sits down with Riverle...

Corey Peterson spent 16 years supporting science in Antarctica before emigrating to Tasmania .   He has worked at the University of Tasmania since 2009 advancing from Sustainability Officer to Chief Sustainability Officer charged with advancing a holistic organisational sustainability agenda. He was on the University of Tasmania Governing Council from 2012-2020 and is the current President of Aust...

Architect, lecturer, columnist and founder of environa studio Tone Wheeler shares his many thoughts about the evolution of architectural teaching in Australia as well as the concept of architectural engineering. You can also see Tone Wheeler live at the 2022 Sustainability Summit, which will be held at Sydney's Shangri-la hotel on Thursday,  November 10. For  more information, go to https://w...

Sally Brincat is an architect with over 20 years of experience and is ThomsonAdsett's Victoria Education Sector Lead. She recently led a large joint venture team on five primary and two secondary schools across mainstream and inclusion streams for the Victorian School Building Authority (VSBA). In this revealing, one-on-one interview, Sally talks about the latest ideas in school design, the m...

Nick Hill has two decades experience in sustainable enterprise for coastal communities, fundraising and leading teams. Coast4C is aimed at unlocking the potential of regenerative seaweed farming and the circular economy to deliver benefits for communities, conservation, climate and commerce. Nick has a PhD in seaweed farming and fishing livelihoods and was also the co-founder of Net-Works and Our...

Tammy Beck joined William Ross Architects (WRA) in 2004 becoming Executive Director in 2020. Tammy has exceptional communication, consultation and analytic skills, and a finely honed design sense.  She leads WRAs Design Review and people management at WRA and drives their management excellence. She is passionate about community sport, urban design, education projects and contemporary learning envi...

David Chandler OAM was appointed NSW Building Commissioner in 2019 after an impressive forty-year career in the Australian construction industry.  David is improving the quality of construction and restoring trust in the industry through leading the delivery of Construct NSW Reform Strategy in collaboration with the sector. The NSW Reform Strategy has involved in modernising the Building Regulator...

WeWork is a provider of coworking spaces, including physical and virtual shared spaces, headquartered in New York City .  As of December 31, 2021, the company operated 756 locations in 38 countries, and had 590,000 members. WeWork’s Global Head of Studios, Franquibel Lima has extensive design experience, having been with WeWork since 2017. He shares his thoughts on what the office should look like...

Ben Vielle is a partner of m3architecture with over 20 years of experience in architectural practice. He has worked extensively in the education sector, having master planned, designed, documented and administered contracts on numerous school and university projects. He also has expertise in contemporary learning environments, passive solar design, environmentally sustainable design, and life cycl...

Kate Nason is  the chairperson of Australian Passive House Association and is a passionate advocate of high-performance, healthy and resilient buildings.  With a background as an architect (ARBV) she has worked across multiple low-energy buildings including Certified Passive House projects such as the Monash Gillies Hall and several single residential homes utilising low carbon prefabricated const...

Aidan Hill,  Global Technical & Sustainability Manager from Autex, explains sustainability, carbon zero and just what are companies like his doing about lowering their environmental footprint.

Paul Ratcliff is a building consultant with over 30 years’ experience, with an onsite building background, and a strong foundation in understanding how structures are built and why they fail. Involved in building litigation in all jurisdictions, written litigation reports on residential houses, multi-level residential buildings, commercial buildings, hotels and public buildings, Paul understands t...

Alex Goad is passionate about using design for marine restoration and the role it is playing to communicate research to the wider public. His work is focused on combining digital fabrication with traditional techniques to create economically viable habitat solutions that respond to current environmental issues. Alex leads the studio’s collaborative approach to research projects and product develop...

Clare Connan Senior Associate, Woods Bagot Architect and Stewart Lock,  Principal of Jackson Architecture explain the complexity and challenges in redesigning the Victoria University tower in Melbourne. From incorporating the 32-story glass tower onto a super-tight site to understanding the sites past as a one-time early 20th century STD clinic, the trials and tribulations of adaptive and heritage...

Scott Davies is an Urban Designer who in his own words is all about creating places people love.  Scott had over 14 years experience in urban design across Australia, with a focus on large scale precinct planning, master planning for town centres and urban regeneration. One of Hassell’s Senior Associates, Scott Davies, is the project lead on Hassell’s work in the new Western Sydney Aerotropolis an...

Kittiphot Boochangkool is the new Group Sustainability Leader at dwp overseeing group sustainability initiatives and helping architects and designers unlock their full sustainability potential.  Boochangkool was raised and educated in the United States, Thailand and United Kingdom with a background in law, international relations and public policy and a specific focus on climate and energy.   In t...

Paolo Bevilacqua, the General Manager of Real Utilities, an authorised energy retailer and utilities business established in 2017 wholly owned by Frasers Property Australia, has 20 years’ experience in the property sector and is one of Australia’s leading sustainability professionals, responsible for delivering cutting-edge sustainability solutions to many high-profile projects across various sect...