International Women’s Day 2022
International Women’s Day 2022
This International Women’s Day, we’d like to take this chance to acknowledge the amazing contribution and achievements of all of the women of Lyons, who collectively help contribute to our studio’s ability to deliver designs that shape, serve, and support communities all around Australia.
We spoke to a few Lyons women and delved into their achievements, inspirations and their deep professional commitment to expertise and ideas.
How did you first learn about architecture and when did you decide that built environment profession was an area of interest for you?
“I first learned about architecture when I was 6 and my parents were looking to move house. I loved examining the floor plans of the various houses we inspected, and started drawing my own layouts and elevations for our dream home. By the end of high school, I was eager to contribute to the built environment around me.”
– Nina Wyatt.
“When I was in high school, and was torn between loving art and design, and maths and physics. As an architect, I enjoy creating spaces that enable people to work, learn, discover and connect, plus the opportunities to collaborate with my colleagues and clients, and to learn from them.”
– Di Jones.
Who or what inspires you professionally?
“The process of collaboration – within our teams, with clients, consultants, community, contractors and other design practices. I’m privileged to be surrounded by colleagues and mentors who are knowledgeable, passionate and engaged – and an increasingly larger cohort of women.”
– Fiona Lew.
“As Architects we are building the world around us so inspiration can be found anywhere; from local streets to travelling abroad. This also comes with responsibility because the decisions will impact how and who gets to use the spaces in the future.”
– Kate Woodman.
What excites you in the work you do?
“What excites me is knowing that the spaces I design will benefit each of the users in the space. In a healthcare setting, I enjoy talking to the clients about what they do and designing an environment that not only improves the service they provide but offers a satisfying experience for patients and visitors.”
– Vicky Li.
“I feel a great sense of achievement when I participate in delivering high quality health buildings. The joy you get from knowing what you’ve designed has the ability to transform lives, reduce pain and save lives is an absolute privilege and a pleasure.”
– Lee Deveridge.
What is your proudest professional accomplishment or achievement?
“My proudest accomplishment has been the contribution I am making to my current project for Edith Cowan University. It’s a uni with a deep history in female empowerment, justice and story telling, and it has been incredibly rewarding to have a leadership role on the project, along with a post COVID relocation stint in Western Australia.”
– Tess O’Meara.
“I work as a project architect on Health projects, this includes work from Masterplan through to work on site during project delivery. Hearing positive feedback from the staff and users of the hospital environments once they have been delivered is always very rewarding and a great achievement.”
– Jo Hutchinson.
What do you enjoy most about working at Lyons?
“Continually evolving the culture of practice – I get great joy from the positive effect this has on our people. We’ve harnessed challenges in ways that resonate with building design – through embracing change, analysing ideas and questioning deeply why and how we do things to become better every day.”
– Lisa O’Kane.
“Firstly, sharing in the collaborative environment that permeates throughout our studio, providing a strong platform for us all to work with, and learn from, each other. Secondly, the privilege of working alongside our various client groups, being welcomed into their world – be that a hospital, research or university setting- to enable us to deliver projects that meet their collective aspirations, provide environments that tangibly improve the daily outcomes for their users, whilst also contributing to the wider public space available to the community.”
– Hari Pliambas.
We invite you to join us in celebrating International Women’s Day 2022.
Now you’ve met some of our Architects, come and meet the rest of the team.