PRACTICE MATTERS: Symposium organising committee

Associate Professor Melonie Bayl-Smith (UNSW) - Symposium Co-Director
Dr Rebecca McLaughlan (USYD) - Symposium Co-Director
Dr Ben Milbourne (RMIT)
Dr John Ting (UC)

The Practice Matters Symposium has been made possible thanks to the AASA, who awarded our symposium proposal a 2024 AASA Learning and Teaching Research Grant. Further financial support is also being provided by the NSW Architects Registration Board. Substantial in-kind support has been provided by UNSW (Symposium host), with media support from the ACA. Further in-kind support has been provided by USYD School of Architecture Design and Planning. Lastly, this symposium would not have happened without our Symposium Committee pictured above, and all the members of APEN who have supported and encouraged this venture over the past year. 

PRACTICE MATTERS: Speakers and Moderators (A-Z)

Dr Gillian Barlow is a Kaurna/Barkindji woman. She is a registered architect, writer and Professor of Practice, Indigenous, at UNSW Built Environment. Her architectural practice has included consultation, designing and building Aboriginal housing and Aboriginal health buildings as well as in Specialist Disability housing. She worked at the National Centre for Cultural Competence taking students to Indigenous Communities to work on interdisciplinary projects designed and owned by the Community. She has worked with Prof Juli Coffin, Murdoch University, on cultural safety projects in Western Australian. Her book, ‘The Hojoki Re-membered’, was published by Saddle Road Press in 2022.
Melonie Bayl-Smith LFRAIA is Director of BIJL Architecture, an architecture and interiors practice located in Sydney, with built work and current projects across NSW, Victoria and Tasmania. Since establishing BIJL Architecture in 2012, Melonie has built a practice dedicated to achieving design excellence by pursuing meaningful and inclusive client relationships that focus on ethics and empathy as they translate to architectural practice. Melonie is Associate Professor of Architecture at UNSW and convenes the M.Arch. Professional Practice courses as well as the undergraduate capstone studio. She is the current NSW APE Convenor and has had extensive involvement with the NSW Architects Registration Board, the AACA, NAWIC, and the Australian Institute of Architects at both a state and national level. In 2018 Melonie was awarded the Paula Whitman Prize for Leadership in Gender Equity, in recognition of her significant contributions to the broader profession.
Ben Berwick is a Newcastle native and the director and founder of Prevalent, a company blurring the lines between architecture, interior design, industrial design, and design innovation. With degrees in architecture and engineering from the University of Sydney and as a fellow from the University of Tokyo, he has collaborated with global institutions such as Princeton and Harvard. His career includes roles at firms such as SANAA and Sou Fujimoto, contributing to projects across fifteen countries. Passionate about advancing Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) principles, Ben challenges conventional norms by partnering with companies such as Lexus, Dyson, Vattenfall, and Vitra. He actively serves on the Australian Institute of Architects' Diversity and Gender Equity Task Force and Editorial Committee, and has been a strategic advisor to the Sydney Nano Institute. As an educator at the University of Sydney and the University of Technology Sydney, he also leads study tours to Japan, fostering international collaboration and strengthening cross-national ties.
As Regional Managing Principal for HDR’s Australian architecture practice, Cate Cowlishaw has forged a career focused on business development, architectural operations and practice leadership. She is passionate about advocating for diversity, equity and inclusion in the industry, as well as mentoring and coaching across the industry. Based in Sydney, Cate is a Fellow at the Australian Institute of Architects where she is the NSW Chapter Chair for the Gender Equity Taskforce and a NSW Architecture Bulletin Editorial Committee member.
Beginning work as a student in 1978, Peter Dawson FRAIA has gained experience in a diverse range of building types and project roles. During his career he has led design teams on education facilities, master plans and residential, commercial and aged care projects, working in collaboration with clients, contractors and colleagues to optimise project outcomes. As a principal at Architectus Peter’s portfolio encompasses milestone projects including Sunshine Coast University Hospital, the James Cook University Clinical Practices Building, and numerous community and education projects. In 2022 Peter stepped back from full time practice to take up a position in the School of Architecture Design and Planning at University of Queensland. Coordinating courses in professional practice challenges him to distil 45 years of architectural practice into useful lessons for the next generation of architects, something he describes as an honour, and valuable therapy.
Dr. Kirsten Day, ARBV RAIA, is a Senior Lecturer in Technology and Practice in Architecture at the University of Melbourne and is the principal architect at Norman Day + Associates. She researches the ‘contingent’ nature of the professional practice of architecture via the lenses of - architectural education (The Architect): examining the institutions that define what and who an architect is - codes and standards (Design for Equity): a research commitment to creating spaces that embrace neurodiversity and prioritising accessibility - and methods of production (The Archive). As a Chief Investigator on the ARC LIEF project Parts 1 and 2 Australian Emulation Network: Born Digital Cultural Collections Access, she collaborates with the GLAM sector, ensuring the preservation and accessibility of digital architectural collections for future generations.
Beau de Belle, the Vice Chancellors Indigenous pre-doctoral Research Fellow at RMIT University's School of Architecture and Urban Design, deeply connects with his Gamilaraay roots from Kamilaroi Country in Northern NSW. His doctoral research, ‘Message Stick Protocols’, examines how architects can support community-driven architecture through the wisdom of oral traditions and hands-on learning. He champions project management that reflects the needs of Aboriginal communities, focusing on deep community involvement and a holistic approach. This ensures architecture promotes not just ecological health but also social justice. Integrating Aboriginal traditions with modern methods, Beau advocates for respecting natural cycles and the insights of elders, enhancing empowerment and cultural authenticity in architecture.
Ashley Dunn is a founding principal of DunnHillam, starting the practice in 2001 with Lee Hillam. Ashley has been fundamental to the success of the practice in bringing creative thinking, innovation in sustainability, construction and determination to complex public buildings. Ashley is Professor of Practice at the University of Sydney and is an Adjunct Professor at UNSW and Visiting Professor at Tongji University, Shanghai. He taught for many years alongside Glenn Murcutt and Wendy Lewin in the UNSW Regional Studios and has taught and lectured in Germany and the UK. Dunnhillam believe architecture and urban design should be a force for good. They seek to create beautiful spaces with less resources, design for the whole of the community and make the complex process of designing and building collaborative and joyful. Their work and way of practicing has allowed them to be certified as Australia’s first B-Corp architecture practice.
Helen Duong is an Associate Lecturer in Architecture and Urban Design at RMIT University, where she coordinates Professional Practice Subjects. Her work focuses on professional ethics and the regulatory mechanisms in architecture, encouraging students to explore ways to transform the profession's service to the public. This approach has been shared through research papers and talks, including discussions at MPavilion and The Wellbeing of Architects Symposium. Helen's research interests encompass Asian and migrant urbanism, gentrification, multiculturalism, and suburban identity, with a focus on creating inclusive architectural models influenced by migration. With over 15 years of experience, she has worked with various Melbourne design practices and taught at RMIT, Melbourne School of Design, and Monash University. Currently, she is a director and registered architect at PanDA.
Pia Ednie-Brown is a writer, designer, researcher and educator. Her creative research practice, onomatopoeia, works across media and disciplines with a broad aim of unsettling anthropocentrism. She is an honorary Professor of Architecture at the University of Newcastle. Her writing and creative works have been published widely in diverse national and international contexts. Over nearly three decades working as an academic in architecture schools, including more than twenty years at RMIT University, she developed expertise in creative practice research methods and ethical know-how, speculative futures in design, and theories of emergence, innovation and architectural composition. She is currently focussed on writing architectural fiction.
Beth George is a Senior Lecturer and Coordinator of the Master of Architecture program at the University of Western Australia. She has taught for 20 years across UWA, Curtin, the University of Newcastle, and Notre Dame’s architecture schools, in urbanism, design, and drawing. Beth holds a PhD from RMIT in urban curation and mapping, and researches through book chapters, journal articles and papers, competitions, and exhibitions. Beth is a registered architect who has directed diverse practices in architecture and urban activation. Her Reed House received the Peter Overman Prize for Residential projects—Alterations and Additions in the WA Architecture Awards 2020.
Adam Haddow has been a Director at SJB since 2002, leading some of the firm's most notable projects. Recognised as a thought-leader in mixed-use design, Adam’s buildings reflect his belief that architecture should provide an armature for community life; that the activities buildings facilitate are just as important as the physicality of the buildings themselves. His designs embody ambitions of beauty, delight, joy and surprise. He is a Churchill Fellow who investigated alternatives to conventional models of urban design, resulting in a research project entitled ‘Shall We Dense,’ an examination into the state of modern density living in Australia that led to successful collaborations within professional and architectural realms. The former NSW Chapter President of the Australian Institute of Architecture, Adam currently sits as the National President Elect.
Michael Lewarne is an architect and coach – but no longer in that order. After almost 30 years in practice, he stepped away to focus on how he might support leadership and culture in the profession. By understanding architectural practice from the inside out, Michael is able to help architects level up their skills so they can be more productive, innovative and maintain wellbeing. Michael believes better human skills and culture are key to better practice. Practices with a good culture work more efficiently and effectively, have more engaged and happier staff, and are more agile and adaptable. You can measure KPI’s and social engagement, but you can’t measure culture. Michael founded Unmeasured in 2019, running workshops and coaching architects (at all levels) to become better at and in their work and practice. You can find more on his work writing at https://unmeasu.red
Laura Mártires is an Academic and Partner of Architectural Practice COMMON with a specific interest in the relationship between architectural form and our cities. As a Lecturer and Subject Coordinator of core Undergraduate and Masters Studios at the University of Melbourne, Laura is instrumental in fostering agency within emerging designers to challenge the responsibility of public space to our communities. In Practice, Laura’s recent Australian Institute of Architecture Awards Shortlist for City of Melbourne project “Roundtable”  is testament of her commitment to grassroots Community Engagement, Design Technology and iterative problem solving. For Laura, academia’s role in speculative design thinking is imperative in unlocking new perspectives for our cities and public space.
Iain [Max] Maxwell is an architect, design researcher and educator, and currently an Associate Professor at the University of Canberra, having previously directed the M.Arch. program at UTS. Prior to his relocation to Australia in 2012, Max held teaching positions at the London Metropolitan University and Architectural Association School of Architecture (AA School). Combining academia and professional practice, Max is a founding director of supermanoeuvre, an international award-winning and research-led architecture and technology innovation studio operating globally out of Australia. The practice’s work has been exhibited internationally including at Paris’ Centré Pompidou, New York's Storefront for Art and Architecture and multiple Venice and Beijing Architecture Biennales. Max’s professional, research and teaching interests operate at the creative overlap of computational design, material experimentation and fabrication innovation, specifically, custom robotic applications and machines with an emphasis on recasting historic, renewable, and waste stream material inputs. In practice and academia, Max is committed to a climate positive built environment.
Dr Rebecca McLaughlan is a Senior Lecturer in Professional Practice, Architectural Design and Research; a recent Australian Research Council DECRA Fellow; and a Registered Architect, currently serving as the Academic Member on the New South Wales Architects Registration Board. Rebecca’s current research, funded by a Thomson Prize, undertakes an ethnographic study of architectural practice to explore the ways that architecture embodies care; examining lived experiences and perceptions of care environments, and the processes through which architects navigate procurement obstacles to ensure built environments that extend care. She is passionate about preparing graduates to develop these skills for agency within their future professional roles.
Dr Ben Milbourne is an architect and academic based in Melbourne. He is the Program Manager and Head of the Master of Architecture at RMIT University where he is engaged in research on the application of advanced manufacturing in architecture and the future fabric of Australian cities. Ben is a co-author of ‘Practice Futures’, commissioned by the Architect’s Registration Board of Victoria, investigating the impact of the adoption of digital fabrication in construction on the practice of Architecture. Ben is a founding partner of Common ADR, an architecture and urban design practice focused on engaging in the common commission of the city through public and private projects. He is an inaugural member of the Design Excellence Advisory Committee for the City of Melbourne, a co-chair of the Australian Institute of Architects Victorian Chapter Smaller Practice Forum and Australia’s representative to the UAI (International Union of Architects) Professional Practice Commission.
Dr Philip Oldfield is Head of School at UNSW Built Environment and a Professor of Architecture. His research examines how we can meet the needs of society by creating housing, buildings and infrastructure, while also reducing the environmental impact of our built environment to mitigate climate change and achieve net zero outcomes. This includes special interests in embodied carbon, tall building architecture and high-density housing, and climate literacy in architectural education. He has a passion for teaching in higher education, across both architectural studio and science courses, recognised with an appointment as a Scientia Education Fellow at UNSW (2017-2021). In addition, he is passionate about science communication, being a former British Science Association Media Fellow (2015). He writes regularly about the need for a more sustainable, equitable and resilient built environment for The New York Times, The Guardian, Dezeen, Architecture Australia and more.
Dr Kirsten Orr is an architect whose career spans professional practice in architecture, leadership roles in the university sector, work as a regulator of architects, and high-level appointments to all major Australian government and professional bodies regulating architects, the education of architecture students and the accreditation of architecture programs. As the CEO and Registrar of the NSW Architects Registration Board, Kirsten is responsible for the operation of the Architects Act 2003 and for leading the effective governance and performance of regulatory functions and registration of 6000+ architects in NSW. This includes the accreditation of architecture programs in NSW. She was previously a Director of the Architects Accreditation Council of Australia (2016-2020, 2022-2024). She was Professor of Architecture and Dean of the School of Technology, Environments & Design at the University of Tasmania (2016-2018); and Associate Professor and Associate Head of the School of Architecture at the University of Technology Sydney (UTS) (1999-2015).
Gabrielle Pelletier has a passion for bringing ambitious architecture to life within a collaborative, complex, multi-disciplinary environment. She works across all scales – from private houses to large scale mixed use, public housing and public infrastructure. As Associate Director of Sam Crawford Architects, she manages strategic planning and business development, office and quality management, architectural and landscape design, resourcing and HR. An active member of the architectural profession, she is currently on the Sydney Metro Design Review Panel, Canterbury Bankstown Council Design Review Panel, Camden Council Design Review Panel, AIA National Climate Action & Sustainability Committee and undertakes guest lectures for industry groups and universities. Previously she served on the AIA NSW Chapter Council, chaired the AIA Sustainability Action Working Group, was juror on the AIA NSW awards and member on the AIA NSW Gender Equity Taskforce. Gabrielle is committed to sustainability, landscape and architectural symbiosis, seeking restorative, climate-resilient architectural design over mere sustainability.
Gerard Reinmuth founded TERROIR in 1999.  The practice quickly became a critical participant in Australian architecture culture through writings, exhibitions, publications and built projects.  As the conversations that started the practice - around the re-examination of the concept of place in light of contemporary cultural and environmental questions – have become more acute, the body of work completed over that time has increased in relevance.  Gerard’s research and teaching (as Professor of Practice at UTS) specifically explores the agency of the architect in the context of those questions.  It is the intersection of these two bodies of work that underpins “Towards a Relational Architecture”, his research project with Andrew Benjamin, where re-thinking how we understand the discipline leads to a more relevant conception of the profession at this time in history.
Jenna Rowe is an architect working in Sydney, graduating from her Master of Architecture from UTAS with First Class Honours. Jenna spent her early career working for prominent Australian practices prior to commencing work as a sole practitioner in 2019. Jenna has experience in tutoring across all subjects, in both the undergraduate and Masters courses at UTS and UNSW. In 2014 Jenna was awarded a position on the Dulux Study Tour, and gives a lot of time to the Institute. She sat as an elected Chapter Councillor in NSW for two terms, and previously sat on numerous committees; holding the role of Co-Chair for both EmAGN NSW and EmAGN TAS. Jenna has been a PALS presenter since 2017, and was elevated to Fellow of the Australian Institute of Architects in 2021. Most recently she has been appointed the NSW APE Convenor with the NSW Architects Registration Board.
Shellie Smith is a proud Awabakal descendent and an Associate Lecturer in Architecture at the University of Newcastle, specialising in decolonised and Country-led practices. A graduate of Architecture with a focus on heritage conservation and adaptive re-use, she has worked on projects in Newcastle, Lake Macquarie, and the Lower Hunter, and worked for the Commonwealth Heritage Branch in Canberra. As a PhD student, Shellie’s research explores how reawakening traditional Awabakal practices can inform contemporary design. Her creative practice includes public artworks, installations, consultancy and cultural workshops, inspiring First Nations people to reconnect with their cultural heritage through making.
Kerstin Thompson is the founding Principal of Kerstin Thompson Architects (KTA), established in 1994. She plays an active role promoting quality design within the profession and the wider community. A passionate defender of civic space and advocate for extracting new life from our built heritage, Kerstin has instilled her values in her team to create award winning projects. Kerstin is a committed design educator who regularly lectures and runs studios at various schools across Australia and New Zealand. She is an Adjunct Professor at RMIT and Monash Universities, is a regular juror for industry award panels, and an accomplished speaker at events in Australia and internationally. In recognition for the work of her practice, contribution to the profession and tertiary education, Kerstin was elevated to Life Fellow by the Australian Institute of Architects in 2017 and in 2022 was appointed Member of the Order of Australia (AM). In 2023, she was awarded the Gold Medal, the Australian Institute of Architects’ highest honour, recognising distinguished services by architects.
Dr. John Ting is an architect, researcher and educator at the University of Canberra, Australia, where he is the Course Convenor of the Master of Architecture program. He is also a member of the AIA’s National Education Committee and a registration examiner for the ACT Architects board. He researches Sarawak’s architectural and construction history and prefabricated timber buildings in nineteenth century colonial Southeast Asia and Australia, where he examines the influence of vernacular and migrant labour, migration and colonisation on the production of architecture.
Dr Fiona Young is an architect and researcher in the field of learning environments. Her role focuses on the bridging of design and use, whether in supporting schools and architectural teams in developing shared understandings around pedagogy and space in the development of new educational facilities, or in empowering teachers and students with the agency in using new innovative learning environments. She is a member of the Government Architects State Design Review Panel, Sydney Catholic Schools Capital Planning Committee, and Learning Environments Australasia Research Sub-Committee. She practices at Hayball architects, is co-authoring the book Integrative Briefing for Better Design and is a co-Founder of Making Space, an award-winning initiative which supports educators in the development of strategies and protocols to activate collaborative environments.
Dr Michael Zanardo is a registered architect, urban designer and director of Studio Zanardo, an independent and collaborative design consultancy working at the intersection of policy and built form and specialising in the design of housing, particularly public and affordable housing. He is motivated by the opportunity to improve people’s lives through the shaping of the built environment and is an outspoken advocate for good amenity in denser forms of housing. Michael is a member of the City of Sydney Design Advisory Panel Residential Subcommittee and Ku-ring-gai Urban Design Consultants Panel providing best-practice advice to Council, has chaired an been a panellist for a number of design excellence competitions, and regularly acts as an urban design expert witness in the NSW Land and Environment Court. Michael actively combines practice with a dedication to research and teaching and has worked sessionally at UTS, UNSW, WSU and USYD over the past twenty years. He was recently the inaugural Rothwell Resident in Architecture at USYD, and is currently a Research Fellow at Monash University.