Evelyn Reynolds

The Design Institute of Australia (DIA) has announced that CEO Jo-Ann Kellock will resign from her position in September 2025, concluding over seven years of leadership at the national design body.
Kellock joined the DIA in May 2016 and was appointed permanent CEO in July 2017. During her tenure, she steered the organisation through a period of significant change, championing sector advocacy, deepening member engagement and advancing digital capabilities.
“It has been an honour to serve as CEO of the DIA,” said Kellock. “I am immensely proud of what we have accomplished together, particularly in supporting our members through the unprecedented challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic. This would not have been possible without the dedication of the DIA team, the support of the Board, and the resilience of our members.”
DIA National President Ryan Russell thanked Kellock for her service, citing her passion and dedication to the design community. “Jo-Ann’s passion for design and her unwavering commitment to the DIA have been invaluable,” said Ryan Russell, national president of the DIA. “We thank her for her leadership and wish her all the best in her future endeavours.”
Kellock will remain in the role until a successor is appointed. The DIA Board is preparing to launch the search for a new CEO, with further details to be shared with members in the coming months. More

“Barcelona is full of imperfections,” architect and CEO of Guiding Architects Barcelona Lorenzo Kárász told the winners of the 2025 Australian Institute of Architects Dulux Study Tour during a cycling tour of the city. Kárász was quick to emphasise that the city’s beauty lies not in perfection, symmetry nor stylistic harmony, but in the complex layering of styles, ideas and histories embedded within the built environment.
Kárász illustrated his point with a visit to the Mercado de Santa Caterina, originally opened in 1848 and restored in 2005 by Enric Miralles and Benedetta Tagliabue (EMBT). He explained that during the restoration project EMBT deliberately replaced a fallen baluster upside down – a gesture intended to highlight imperfection and unpredictability, and to capture a moment in time rather than conceal history. The intervention embraces imperfection, and more broadly, offers and honest reflection of life’s inherent flaws and unexpected turns.

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Marni Reti, one of the five participants on the Dulux Study Tour, described Barcelona as having a playful quality in its architecture. She observed that, compared to the other cities visited on the tour – Amsterdam, Rotterdam and Copenhagen – the architecture in Barcelona felt like “an antithesis.” This was particularly true of Copenhagen, she noted, which appeared “more regimented, rhythmic and regulated in its architectural outcomes” in contrast to Barcelona’s complex and disordered layers of history and culture. Reti agreed with Kárász’s view that the city’s architecture doesn’t always follow a cohesive style and is instead defined by layering, “but I think that’s part of the whimsical nature of the city,” she said.
Though the city might resemble a patchwork quilt with architecture that often stands apart and speaks for itself, tour participant Kate Shepherd observed that the city follows a well-organised and cohesive urban plan. “It all sits within a very structured framework,” she explained, referring to the grid of octagonal blocks with chamfered corners and uniform block sizes.

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Building on this idea of structure enabling creativity, tour participant Nicholas Souksamrane likened Barcelona’s gridded urban plan to that of Melbourne. “The strong grid in both cities allows the buildings to be a bit more playful,” he said, “in contrast to Sydney, where the streets are wonky and irregular, so the architecture tends to be less fun.”
A visit to Plaça de les Glòries, a newly opened urban space where three of the city’s major thoroughfares intersect, was generally regarded as a much-needed addition to the city by tour participants. They observed that, in comparison to the other cities visited on the tour, Barcelona offered less in terms of green space and the public realm. Shepherd acknowledged that there did seem to be a current, deliberate effort to address this. She noted that, in the early 2000s, Barcelona had focused on creating bold, standalone architectural objects in empty fields – structures designed to be visually striking and make a statement. “Now they seem to be filling in all the gaps and dissolving the threshold [between architecture and public space],” she remarked.

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For tour participant Jimmy Carter, the most unexpected insight from Barcelona was the ability of young firms to demonstrate their ideas through practice, taking on large-scale projects that smaller firms in Australia might not typically have access to. Carter discerned this after meeting with the founders of MAIO Architects and Lacol Cooperative Architecture, two young firms leading multi-residential projects. MAIO’s first new-build project was a 22-dwelling housing block titled 110 Rooms (2016), while Lacol’s debut project was La Borda (2018), a 28-unit cooperative housing development.
“In my experience, this is not something that often happens in Australia (or Melbourne), as this size of project is left to trusted architects and outcomes are very specific because of the required profit expectations of the developer,” Carter reflected. “It seemed the two firms were given these opportunities because of their dare and rethinking of present-day problems,” specifically through research-driven approaches. This is a stark contrast to Australia, where firms are often expected to prove the viability of their research through prior built work before being trusted with larger commissions.

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Another tour participant, Gumji Kang, was similarly struck by the ambition of Barcelona’s emerging practices – particularly their willingness to engage with regulatory and societal challenges at the intersection of architecture and government. Rather than operating solely within traditional design roles, many of the firms visited were, as she put it, “shifting the needle and prioritising practical solutions and efficient design” through advocacy. She found this especially noteworthy given the strict design regulations in Spain.
This willingness was particularly evident during the visit to La Comunal, a cooperative workspace by Lacol Cooperative Architecture that houses ten organisations (including Lacol’s own office). Founded in 2009 during the global economic crisis, Lacol is a worker-owned architecture cooperative that has been actively promoting a socially driven, more accessible and affordable cooperative housing model. One of the founders of Lacol Carles Baiges explained that the practice’s approach extends beyond design, with some team members dedicated full-time to advocacy (part of which involves lobbying for policy changes that support greater access to cooperative housing models).

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Kang found the intersection of architecture and politics in Lacol’s work noteworthy, commenting on the need for a similar shift in Australia: “It’s such a tiny subsection of the architecture industry that focuses on advocacy or policy. I think there needs to be a general uplift in trying to engage with the political and financial spheres.”
“Maybe I’m just speaking for myself here, but it feels like at times we don’t really know what our role as architects is beyond design. I think we [as an industry] should be actively acknowledging and encouraging the idea that there are different pathways you can take as an architect,” Kang added.
Shepherd echoed those sentiments, stating that, “fundamentally, architects are problem solvers, but the solution doesn’t necessarily have to be a built outcome.”
Adair Winder is travelling with the 2025 Dulux Study Tour. Follow #2025DuluxStudyTour on social media and the blog. More

The jury for the 2025 Eat Drink Design Awards has been announced. The Eat Drink Design Awards recognize excellence and innovation in the design of food and beverage venues across Australia and New Zealand, from high-end restaurants to hole-in-the-wall cafes and luxury hotels.
The awards will be judged across six primary categories of Best Restaurant Design, Best Café Design, Best Bar Design, Best Hotel Design, Best Retail Design and Best Identity Design.
Each year, a landmark venue of more than 10 years standing will be inducted into the Eat Drink Design Awards Hall of Fame. Past inductees have included iconic venues such as Berowra Waters Inn by Glenn Murcutt, Icebergs in Sydney’s Bondi by Lazzarini Pickering, and Melbourne hospitality institutions Cumulus Inc by Pascale Gomes-McNabb and Cookie by Phillip Schemnitz.
The 2025 jury comprises venerable industry leaders from hospitality and design sectors: Jean-Paul Ghougassian (co-director of Ritz and Ghougassian), Callan Boys (national restaurant editor, Good Food), Simone McEwan (director, Nice Projects), Jason M. Jones (restaurateur of Entrecote and Hopper Joint) and Cassie Hansen (editor of InteriorsAu).
Jean-Paul Ghougassian, Ritz and GhougassianJean-Paul co-founded Ritz and Ghougassian, an architecture and interiors practice that has been the recipient of a number of Eat Drink Design Awards. He leads the interior design side of the practice with a clear vision, shaped by years of experience across restaurants, bars, wellness spaces, private residences and more.
Callan Boys, Good FoodCallan is Good Food’s national restaurant editor at The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age, and the NSW restaurant critic for Good Weekend. He joined Fairfax Media as the national food and drink writer in 2014 after contributing several restaurant and travel-related articles and reviewing for the Good Food Guide.
Simone McEwan, Nice ProjectsSimone is an interior architect with two decades of experience. She has delivered highly successful global hospitality projects for brands such as Soho House, Selfridges and Co, Fortnum and Mason and Rosewood Hotels. In 2020, she launched her studio Nice Projects alongside long-term design collaborator Sacha Leong.
Jason M. Jones, Entrecôte and Hopper JointJason has been a dynamic force in the culinary world since opening his first restaurant at just 17 years old in his hometown of Maffra. Today, he is proud to call Entrecôte, the Parisian-inspired restaurant in Prahran, his home base, alongside other beloved establishments such as Hopper Joint, Second Home and the recently opened Gigi.
Cassie Hansen, InteriorsAuCassie is the editor of InteriorsAu and prior to this was the editor of Artichoke magazine for more than ten years. She is an active contributor to design media through writing, editing, presentations and participation in awards juries, including the Asia Pacific Interior Design Awards, the Retail Design Institute Awards, the Vivid Emerging Designers Awards and more.
Entries to the awards are now open until Friday 18 July 2025. Awards and commendations will be announced on Wednesday 29 October. Click here to enter. More

The Australian Institute of Architects has launched its Architecture Industry Decarbonisation Plan 2025–2050, which aims to provide an architect-led collaborative pathway to achieving net-zero emissions across the built environment.
A release from the Institute notes argues that as early adopters of technology, design professionals are key to driving a low-carbon future for Australian architecture. Its decarbonisation plan urges immediate government action and leadership to help develop the built environment sector’s capabilities.
Co-chairs of the Institute’s National Climate Action Sustainability Committee Caroline Pidcock and Stefan Preuss said the plan represents a critical turning point for the industry.
“This is a moment of responsibility and opportunity. The building and construction sector accounts for over one quarter of Australia’s carbon emissions. With the right leadership, design, and regulation, we can bring that to zero – and create better, healthier places in the process,” Preuss said.
The Institute’s five-part plan places emphasis on government leadership of decarbonisation within the built environment through:

Updating the National Construction Code (NCC) 2025 to implement mandatory measurement of embodied carbon in accordance with the National Australian Built Environment Rating System (NABERS)
Updating the NCC 2028 to achieve buildings that are all-electric, highly efficient, grid-responsive and effectively net-zero in operational carbon, and reduce upfront carbon in all new buildings and major renovations by 40 percent, by 2030
Requiring government-procured buildings to be grid-responsive, have net-zero operational emissions and reduce their upfront carbon by 20 percent using NABERS methodology from 2025
Funding NABERS and the Nationwide House Energy Rating Scheme (NatHERS) to extend operational and embodied carbon ratings across all building types
Investing in transforming skills, practices and supply chains to keep pace with a rapidly evolving industry and maintain investment confidence.

Pidcock emphasised that collaboration between industry and government is vital.
“We’re calling on all levels of government to work with architects, engineers and planners to future-proof our cities and buildings,” she said. “We need stronger national policy that supports innovation, upskills the workforce and embeds sustainability at every stage of the built environment lifecycle.”
The Institute’s release notes that the decarbonisation plan builds on existing climate strategies, aligning with national and international targets to deliver resilient, zero-carbon buildings by 2050. Strategic recommendations in the plan include mandatory whole-of-life carbon assessments, incentives for adaptive reuse, and integration of sustainability training into education and professional development.
“This is not just about reducing emissions – it’s about improving lives,” said Pidcock. “A decarbonised built environment is healthier, more efficient, and more equitable. The roadmap we’ve launched gives us a realistic and responsible way forward, that will inspire architects, clients and team members.”
The Architecture Industry Decarbonisation Plan 2025–2050 can be viewed online. More

AJC Architects has received approval for its redevelopment of a retail town centre in northern Sydney. According to a release from the practice, the design “reimagines the Eastwood Centre with a new eat street, fresh food market and retail offering … topped by residential apartments encircling a landscaped ‘big backyard.’”
Located next to Eastwood Station on a 1.2-hectare site, the approved scheme replaces the current 12,500-square-metre retail offering, which includes a Woolworths supermarket, and 2,400 square metres of commercial floor space. The redevelopment will deliver 41,421 square metres of residential floor area, and 21,587 square metres of commercial and retail space shared between five restaurants, 65 retail tenancies, four commercial tenancies, three mini-major tenancies and two supermarkets.
The firm’s communique notes that the design has been “inspired by Eastwood’s strong cultural ties with the Asian community” and “guided by the holistic concept of Jiefang – loosely translating to ‘authentic’ or ‘neighbourhood feel.’”
AJC says that this principle has informed the design of the landscaping and built form, which includes a key pedestrian link connecting The Avenue, Rowe Street and Rutledge Street. This new laneway, labelled “eat street,” will provide covered outdoor dining.
Internally, a network of arcades lined with shops on the Rowe Street level is intended to create a finer-grained urban experience. The lower ground level is centred on a fresh food market supported by smaller food stalls, speciality retail and mid-sized to large-format supermarkets. On the first floor, a series of restaurants with indoor-outdoor terraces face onto Rowe Street Mall.

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Above the retail, a 3,200-square-metre landscaped communal space for residents is designed to create a “sunny, secluded garden for relaxation and play – bringing nature into the heart of this urban development,” AJC notes.
The project consists of 411 apartments ranging from one to four bedrooms in size. Five affordable dwellings were secured through a previous planning agreement, which also includes public domain upgrades to the mall.
Senior project lead for design at AJC Kaustav Gupta commented, “The new centre is poised to reimagine urban living, where vibrant streets with an eclectic mix of food and retail overlap with lush green spaces – celebrating Eastwood’s heritage and diverse community.” More

Twenty winners have been named in the 2025 National Trust (NSW) Heritage Awards in recognition of their excellence in the conservation of Aboriginal, built, natural and cultural heritage across the state.
Awards were presented in ten categories, along with the President’s Prize, the Judges’ Choice Award, the inaugural People’s Choice Award and four prizes for individuals. Reflecting on this year’s celebrated projects, CEO of the National Trust (NSW) Debbie Mills commented, “The geographical spread of winners is very impressive – from Port Macquarie to Bega, Sydney to Broken Hill.”
Heritage Council of NSW chair Sally Barnes added, “I’m impressed by the sheer diversity of projects. It’s wonderful to celebrate the role of heritage in creating beautiful and much-loved places in our modern world.”
The 2025 jury comprised Matthew Devine (chair), Ann Toy, Barrina South, David Burdon, Caitlin Allen, Libby Gallagher, Kathryn Pitkin, Peter John Cantrill and Sophie Canaris. They awarded the Judges’ Choice Award to the Old Bega Hospital revival, which was entered by a team including Design 5 Architects. The project involved the extensive repair and rebuild of an 1888 building after fire ravaged the site in 2004. The jury described the works as “sensitive, elegantly resolved and a project that sets the standard for heritage conservation.”
The Architecture category was won by Neeson Murcutt Neille for the Former Workmen’s Dwellings Lower Fort Street, an adaptive re-use of a row of former social housing buildings in The Rocks conservation precinct.
Minister for Heritage Penny Sharpe applauded the winners for their outstanding efforts in safeguarding and promoting NSW’s heritage, noting that “these projects play a crucial role in ensuring our unique places and stories are celebrated and conserved for future generations.”
The winners are:
Architecture
Former Workmen’s Dwellings Lower Fort Street, Dawes Point – entered by Neeson Murcutt Neille
Built Conservation
Old Bega Hospital, Bega – entered by Design 5 Architects, Old Bega Hospital Reserve Land Manager, NSW Public Works, Leser Build
Interiors and Objects
Interiors
Parliament of NSW Rum Hospital Project, Sydney – entered by Department of Parliamentary Services
Objects
Conservation of the Barangaroo Boat, Sydney – entered by Sydney Metro with Silentworld Foundation and York Archaeological Trust
Landscape
Nepean River Trail, Camden – entered by Camden Council
See the full list of winners for the National Trust (NSW) Heritage Awards on the National Trust’s website. More

Australia and the Netherlands are both facing housing crises, but for opposite reasons. In Australia, urban sprawl is a key challenge, while in the Netherlands, the issue comes down to a shortage of available land. Despite these contrasting conditions, both countries share a need for urban densification. This common priority became clear to the recipients of the Australian Institute of Architects Dulux Study Tour 2025, who observed striking parallels between two nations dealing with very different circumstances.
A cycling tour around Overhoeks in Amsterdam-Noord uncovered vast stretches of new housing, transforming what was once an industrial area. The site now features everything from floating homes to apartment buildings offering a mix of private and social housing units. These projects are part of a broader effort to maintain 35 percent social housing in the Netherlands – a stark contrast to the 4.1 percent that social housing represents in Australia, as recorded in 2023. Each building in Overhoeks has its own distinct character, with little apparent effort to create a cohesive architectural identity between them, apart from a unifying sea of brick that runs prominently throughout the area.

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Marni Reti, one of the five Dulux Study Tour recipients, felt that the aesthetic diversity between buildings reflected an appreciation for architecture in all its guises, likening the assortment of styles to a “collage.” The tour participants discovered that this appreciation may stem from the Netherlands’ use of aesthetic control committees. These committees, typically composed of experts in architecture and spatial planning, are established to review the visual impact of all proposed developments to ensure that they are aesthetically appropriate and contribute to the overall quality of the built environment.
For tour participant Nicholas Souksamrane, one surprising observation about the housing developments was that people in Amsterdam seemed “to have a very different threshold for privacy compared to what we’re used to in Australia.” He offered the example of a visit to a woman living in an apartment on the waterfront, whose living room window was highly visible from the outside – “something that would generally be considered unacceptable in Australia.” Souksamrane reflected, “I think there’s a lot we can learn in that respect because it’s about sharing through surveillance.”

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Meanwhile, Kate Shepherd, another of the tour’s participants, was particularly impressed by the “consistent build quality” of these housing developments. “There were more layers of materials, texture and variety. Every handrail was beautifully detailed in steel. It feels like there is a lot of craftsmanship, which I think is somewhat missing in Australia, where there’s a growing reliance on prefabricated elements that are often completely stripped bare of any texture or any sense of labor quality.”
Study tour participant Jimmy Carter offered a different perspective, stating that the buildings weren’t necessarily a celebration of craftsmanship, given their use of prefabricated components. He suggested that instead it seemed like the emphasis was on the longevity of materials, as seen in details such as the steel balustrades and the selection of high-quality bricks.
While all tour participants agreed that the build quality was higher than most new apartment buildings in Australia, Reti questioned whether the social and private housing would result in an inclusive space for everyone, as the brief intended.
“I’m really interested to know how successful the mixed social and private housing model has been. Integrating different housing offerings is a really nice idea in principle, but they’ve tried similar approaches in New South Wales and it hasn’t always been effective from a social point of view. Rather than fostering integration, it’s sometimes led to a strange division [between demographics],” Reti said.
During the Netherlands portion of the tour, urban density was repeatedly highlighted as a key solution to the country’s housing crisis, much like it is in Australia. A visit to MVRDV’s practice revealed that raising awareness about the value of urban density is a top priority for the firm.

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Didden Village (2006), the practice’s first realised building in its hometown of Rotterdam, was an experiment in housing density. This bright blue rooftop extension crowns a historic house and is arranged as a cluster of small buildings that together form a miniature village. A parapet wall with windows encloses the space, while trees, benches, tables and open-air showers support an outdoor lifestyle. Jammy Zhu, an associate at the firm, explained at the visit that the addition serves almost as a prototype for MVRDV’s ongoing exploration of densification in the city. In 2022, the firm sought to further demonstrate the value of density to the broader public through projects beyond housing. One such initiative was a temporary walk in Rotterdam that connected several buildings via an aerial bridge 30 metres above ground. Erected for one month, the Rotterdam Rooftop Walk installation invited visitors to experience the untapped potential of rooftops, raising public awareness of how these spaces could contribute to a more liveable city.
A visit to the Borneo and Sporenburg area, a residential district masterplanned by urban planning and landscape architecture firm West 8, once again highlighted the value of density through the transformation of two harbour docks: Borneo and Sporenburg. The district, which was developed between 1993 and 2000, stretches across a six-kilometre waterfront and comprises more than 2,500 predominantly low-rise dwellings with a high density of 100 units per hectare. Creative director at West 8 Daniel Vasini explained during a walking tour that part of the firm’s role in the project involved overseeing the work of more than 100 emerging and established architects who they tasked with reimagining the traditional Dutch canal house within a flexible design framework. The masterplan, with its open space designated for markets, pocket parks and a dynamic mix of facades, was regarded by the tour participants as an excellent example of dense yet liveable design.

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Souksamrane observed, “I think in Sydney and Melbourne, especially, there’s a big push for densification right now. However, when densification is discussed, it’s often linked to mega towers – like 20-storey buildings – rather than the more moderate density seen in cities like Copenhagen or Amsterdam, where buildings are typically four or five storeys. This scale feels more approachable, allowing for street-level engagement rather than towering up into another world. In Australia, it feels like we’re currently focused on either low-rise or high-density options. There needs to be a middle ground, which I think we’re all cognizant of, but doing density well is something we haven’t quite mastered yet.”
Shepherd noted that the general population in the Netherlands appeared more open to embracing density as a viable option, whereas in Australia, it often remains a tough sell to communicate the value of density over sprawl to the public.
“I think in Australia, we’ve been sold the dream that everybody gets a quarter acre block – you get land, a house, independence and privacy. And because we have so much land, it just feels like everybody thinks they deserve or are entitled to that. Whereas in the Netherlands, they kept talking about this idea of protecting the [green] ring around the city because the natural landscape is quite rare and precious. It sounded like people are happy to avoid pushing the city further out in order to preserve those areas and I think that is a mindset in Australia that we don’t have,” Shepherd said.
The question of how to densify Australian cities is not just about the need for more or better housing, but also about “a shift in attitude,” commented Carter. He pointed out that many Australians seem to be very unclear on what density actually means, in part due to limited public education and a lack of exposure to well-executed density projects. “This is where greater communication is really quite crucial, but it needs to be supported by good examples of built work that the public can broadly agree are successful.”
Adair Winder is travelling with the 2025 Dulux Study Tour. Follow #2025DuluxStudyTour on social media and the blog. More

The Powerhouse has launched its call for applications for the 2025 Carl Nielsen Design Accelerator, inviting early to mid-career Australian industrial designers to submit bold, sustainability-focused projects for the chance to receive $25,000 in funding.
The initiative supports a single standout designer working on a project that places sustainability at its core. The program is made possible through a bequest from the late Australian industrial designer Carl Nielsen and his wife Judy, aiming to carry on their legacy by nurturing innovation in sustainable industrial design.

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The selected designer will be partnered with leading industry professionals to further develop their project or bring an existing concept to market. Powerhouse will provide ongoing support including mentorship, production assistance, research resources, and promotional opportunities to enhance the project’s impact and visibility.
Renowned Sydney-based designer and founder of Industrial Design eXchange (IDX), Ed Ko, will lead the eight-month development program tailored to the chosen designer’s needs. The 2025 selection panel includes Powerhouse Collection curator Angelique Hutchison, Nielsen Design director Adam Laws, and Ko himself.
Last year’s recipient, Caity Duffus, was recognised for Mycelia House, a visionary design that introduces mushroom cultivation into Australian households, promoting fungi as a sustainable and accessible food source.
The Carl Nielsen Design Accelerator forms part of the Powerhouse’s broader sustainability mission across its exhibitions, programs, and collection. Applications for the 2025 round are now open, with designers encouraged to submit proposals that push boundaries in sustainable industrial design.
Nielsen Design director Adam Laws said, “Carl Nielsen was a giant in the industry when the industrial design profession was establishing itself in Australia. The challenges we currently face in industrial design are more global than local, but the need for promotion and support continues to be important. The Carl Nielsen Design Accelerator has been developed to continue his legacy of helping designers achieve their full potential.”
Applications will close 5pm, 20 June 2025. The recipient will be announced at the Sydney Design Week opening event in September 2025. More