2022 in review: architecture highlights and lowlights

The end of the year is fast approaching with festive celebrations, gatherings and some well-earned R&R (not R+R!) on the horizon.

It’s been a big year - we’ve enjoyed seeing many clients celebrating major milestones and winning fantastic recognition for their work, unique approaches, and contribution to their communities.

Here are a few highlights from practices around Australia that have completed SLD’s Review + Reset consulting package.

Dunn & Hillam Architects

Dunn & Hillam’s Cobar Museum project won lots of awards and generated some great media coverage.
Photography by Katherine Lu.

Celebrating 21 years of practice this year, Dunn & Hillam has had an excellent year, collecting several major prizes for The Great Cobar Museum project, including the following accolades:

• 2022 National Heritage Trust (NSW), Judge's Choice Award

• 2022 National Heritage Trust (NSW), Conservation - Built Heritage & Conservation Award

• 2022 National Heritage Trust (NSW), Conservation - Interiors & Objects - High Commendation

• 2022 NSW Architecture Awards, Creative Adaptation Award, and

• 2022 NSW Architecture Awards, EmAGN Project Award

Lee Hillam wrote:

“Thanks Rachael- you’re involvement was so valuable to us being able to speak clearly about this project after having been immersed in it for so long!”

The practice also won the 2022 Best in Practice Prize (Small Practice) in NSW, and the citation read:

“In a move that demonstrates a commitment to using the power of business to create a positive impact on the planet and people, Dunn & Hillam is one of the few Australian architectural practices to be granted certified B-Corp status. The practice meets the highest global standards of social and environmental performance, public transparency, and legal accountability. They are committed to balancing profit and purpose. 

There are several arenas in which Dunn & Hillam stand out in their ability to practice an outward, rather than purely inward, allegiance. Impressively, their commitment is to architecture at large. Having embraced the opportunity to identify as a launch pad for other practices and sole practitioners in the industry, advocacy for the profession is embedded into their workplace values. 

For a small practice, Dunn & Hillam encapsulate the breadth of the entire profession, dedicating themselves to cultural initiatives, design excellence, and education of their staff and others.”

That’s an impressive roll-call of achievements and it’s amazing to see this purpose-driven practice continuing to thrive and grow, and expand their client base to deliver great architecture that serves people in various towns and cities across Australia.

Find out more about Dunn & Hillam here.

ArchitectSmith

Richard Smith launched a new website in July and then proceeded to gather some major recognition for Chisholm House, the home he designed with his wife Bianca Martin of Editor Interiors, for their own family. Their accolades included:

Chisholm House at Avalon Beach by Architect Smith. Photography Pablo Veiga

• Best Laundry, Top 50 Rooms, Australian House & Garden magazine

• Shortlisted: Best Indoor Outdoor space, Top 50 Rooms, Australian House & Garden magazine

• Shortlisted: HOUSES Awards, New House over 200m2, and

• Think Brick Award, High Commendation, Horbury Hunt Residential Award 2022

Chisholm House also generated several media features, with two mentions in Australian House & Garden’s Top 50 Rooms spread, and a feature in the sought-after ‘At Home With’ section, both in November 2022. It also recently featured on The Design Files.

The Top 50 Rooms Best Laundry winner.

Having spent the past few years on the tools building his family home, this project provided significant impetus for the relaunch of Richard’s practice in 2022, and it’s fantastic to see ArchitectSmith building a stellar reputation for residential architecture across Sydney’s Northern Beaches.

Visit the new website and find out more about ArchitectSmith here.

Leanhaus

Ben Caine continues to deliver incredible smart and sustainable homes, including the Claremont Haus project that he entered several awards programs this year. It also generated some fantastic media coverage for Leanhaus this year.

Leanhaus’ Claremont House featured in The West Australian.
Photography by Jody D’Arcy.

Claremont Haus appeared in The West Australian newspaper and Sanctuary magazine, and Ben was called upon as a subject matter expert by Domain. He was also profiled in Sanctuary magazine (after being featured in the US-based Fast Company last year). To top it all off, Ben was invited to speak about his approach and projects on the Passive House Podcast.

As SLD’s first Review + Reset client, it’s so great to see Ben’s business going from strength to strength, building a solid reputation for highly sustainable and passive house projects in Perth.

You can visit the Leanhaus website here.

MDC Architects

Matt Delroy-Carr from MDC Architects had a massive year, finishing the build of his own family home, which was the subject of two sold-out Design Freo tours and appeared in the STM’s “At Home” section.

MDC Architects launched the New House Plans - affordable architecture that clients can purchase from the website.

Keep an eye out for this project in 2023; the design and build process will be showcased in a new television series, spreading the message about how it’s possible for young families to live well in small homes that are sustainable and well-designed.

In other big news, Matt won the Emerging Architect prize in WA, for his advocacy on sustainable, affordable medium density housing in Perth.

The citation read:

“Matt’s fundamental belief is that architecture should be for everyone, and that good design is central to an improved quality of life. With a focus on infill housing, accessible to the wider majority, Matt has completed the design and documentation of a number of single and multiple residential projects in Perth.

With this experience, Matt was one of the contributors to the State Government’s draft Medium Density Design guidelines, which aim to improve the design quality of medium density housing for Western Australians and address the need for greater housing diversity and choice.”

Taking his advocacy even further, MDCA launched its first series of New House Plans in November: these three house designs will help make architecture more affordable for more people, from young couples to empty-nesters and rightsizers.

This was an exciting project to develop and launch, and I’m looking forward to seeing the designs changing the face of Perth’s suburbs for the better.

You can find out more about the New House Plans on the MDCA website, here.

Philip Stejskal Architecture

Last year, Rachael joined Phil on a site visit to meet the clients, and in 2022 that project – Higham Road House – collected a swag of major awards for the practice. These include:

Philip Stejskal Architecture won several major awards across various programs for the Higham Road House in 2022.

• The Peter Overman Award for Residential Architecture – Houses (Alterations & Additions) at the 2022 WA AIA Architecture Awards

• Winner - Residential Alterations & Additions over $1m at the 2022 ARCHITEAM Awards

• Winner - Best Home Renovation at the 2022 INSIDE OUT Home of the Year Awards, and

• Shortlisted in House Alteration and Addition over 200sqm at the HOUSES AWARDS 2022

Higham Road was published in HOUSES, The West Australian and The Architect, and Green magazine featured Phil in their ‘What I like about you’ section. And PSA’s Hale Street project appeared in Sanctuary magazine.

All of this activity is clear evidence that making a concerted effort to enter awards and get your work published can pay significant dividends in terms of raising awareness of your practice, projects and approach, and boosting your reputation and desirability among clients in your chosen sector.

Well done Phil and team! You can find out more about Philip Stejskal Architecture here.

Sounds Like Design’s 2022 highlights

Affordable Housing opinion piece in The Architect magazine

I was delighted to be invited by Sandy Anghie to contribute to The Architect magazine in the topic of affordable housing this year. My opinion piece blends key findings from my Churchill Fellowship in 2003 with current statistics about the scale of the affordable housing crisis (it’s significantly worse, now) and recent initiatives in various states.

You can read and download the first page here and the second page here.

My First Archi-Job

Rachael appeared in a conversation with Sarah Lebner in her ‘My First Archi-job’ community in 2021 and – this year – Sarah made the recording available to everyone to watch.

They talked about various ways that architects can promote themselves to future employers; within the profession; and more broadly to the community.

You can watch the recording here.

Hearing Architecture podcast

Rachael was delighted to speak with Kimberley Hui on the Hearing Architecture Podcast, which launched in August.

They spoke about the similarities between filmmaking and architecture, how Rachael provides marketing, business development and CPD services to the architecture profession, and the importance of communicating effectively, so an architecture firm’s vision is accessible and understood to the public.

You can listen to Episode 40 wherever you find your podcasts, or via this link.

Advocacy via The Drill

This year there were many stories in The Drill that captured the attention and interest of subscribers and followers on social media.

These include:

• Important opinion pieces about ethics and the perils of working for oppressive regimes;

• The urgency of responding to climate emergency;

• The need for architects to serve broader client communities, prompted by Sarah Wigglesworth’s great speech On Value and Values;

• New research about The Wellbeing of Architects; and

• A series of denigrating comments about architects and architecture from high-profile people, such as a restaurant critic in the UK, a former Australian PM and the current NSW premier. (Read Sarah Hobday-North’s considered reply to the Coren piece, here).

These all generated significant engagement and discussion on our Instagram feed this year, and it’s fantastic to see architects engaging with topical issues and sharing their opinions and experiences.

Following these robust discussions, Sounds Like Design received many supportive messages from subscribers to confirm that our advocacy is beneficial for the profession. A few took out paid subscriptions to show their support! (click here to join them).

The Drill turned four years old in November, and we’ve sent nearly 200 issues over that time. The newsletter seems to have found its groove this year - one subscriber expressed their approval of our “strident approach” to the discussion of important issues! – so in 2023, we plan to keep asking difficult questions, prompting hard but necessary conversations, and working towards a more positive and equitable future for the profession.

Please keep commenting on our posts, sharing them with your friends and colleagues and engaging in these conversations – and definitely get in touch with Rachael via email or DM on Instagram if we say or do something you don’t like; we’re happy to listen to and respond to all feedback – good, bad or otherwise.

The top 5 most popular blog posts on Sounds Like Design in 2022

Sounds Like Design’s subscriber list and blog audience continue to grow as our reach expands across Australia and even into overseas markets, and for that we are very grateful. Many of the architects facing architects are universal, and some of our articles have really struck a chord with audiences this year.

Have you read these most popular posts about business development, practice strategy, architecture marketing, and how to win more of the clients you love working with?

If you haven’t, bookmark them to dip into over the holiday break, especially if you’re searching for inspiration about how to enhance your project pipeline – and attract more of your ideal clients – in 2023.

1. How much should you spend on marketing in your architecture practice?

2. 10 common misconceptions about architecture practice websites

3. What is Public Relations and how can it help my architecture practice?

4. Referrals: 15 ways to elevate the unsung hero of your architecture marketing toolbox

5. Is it possible to cultivate a waitlist of ideal clients for your architecture practice?

How can Sounds Like Design help you win more of the clients and projects you love?

Download the brochure here to find out more about our services.

Take our CPD course on business development and marketing for architects.

Architecture Marketing 360 is now available as a self-guided online program. You can find out more and enrol and get started straight away, here.

Work with me to co-create a customised Blueprint

Review + Reset is my signature consulting package, for practice owners and directors who want to develop a customised marketing blueprint that they can implement in-house or use to engage specialist marketing services.

Places are limited to one new practice each month and there is usually a waitlist. You can find out more on this page, and click on the green button to request package details including costs and the next available start date.