• Rivermark wins at the PIA awards!

    Rivermark wins at the PIA awards!
    Project initiation smoking ceremony

    On Friday night our Rivermark project won the ‘Planning with Country’ Award at the WA Planning Institute of Australia Awards! ⁠
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    The Rivermark development sits on the banks of the Derbal Kerrigan (Swan River) and is a place of cultural significance for Indigenous people. Our client, Hesperia , were keen to ensure that this history was embedded in the design of the new community. ⁠
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    Nick Juniper, Barbara Bynder and Farley Garlett

    We worked alongside Karrda, an Aboriginal-owned anthropological consultancy led by Barbara Bynder and Farley Garlett, with close connections with the Noongar community in Perth.

    Together our role was to facilitate meaningful engagement with the Noongar community and to develop a series of built environment outcomes and narratives that reflected the cultural history of the site. The jury stated that ‘this work demonstrates how early engagement and reconciliation can play a formative role in the master planning process.’

    We are delighted to win this award and also congratulate Hesperia for committing to such a progressive and meaningful approach.

    Emma Brain

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  • Equity Journal Launch

    Equity Journal Launch

    Here’s some images from the launch of our journal, Equity – a special evening with friends, collaborators and clients at Stackwood. ⁠ ⁠

    Sandra Harben, a Whadjuk Ballardong Noongar woman, gave the most generous Welcome to Country; while, Kieran spoke about the privilege of working with First Nations people across this land, including Noongar, Martu, Bunuba, Anindilyakwa, Narrunga, Mirruwong, Arrente, Jaru, Kija, Kukatja, Walmajarri, the Gadigal of the Eora Nation, Turbbal, Yuggera, Kuku Yalanji, Ngunnawai and Gooniyandi. ⁠ ⁠

    We are incredibly fortunate to work in the places we do, alongside the people we worth with. This privilege is not lost on us as a team; it cements the values of the agency as we seek social justice in the built environment for First Nations communities. ⁠ ⁠

    Copies of Equity can be read online or are available to purchase here , with 100% of revenue going towards projects in First Nations communities.

    Emma Brain

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  • Groote Archipelago Housing Programme wins (twice) at the Good Design Awards!

    Groote Archipelago Housing Programme wins (twice) at the Good Design Awards!

    Our work on the Groote Archipelago Housing Programme (GAHP) won two awards at the prestigious Australian Good Design Awards in Sydney last Friday – the award for Social Impact and the Michael Bryce Patron’s Award!

    The Patron’s Award is particularly special as it celebrates the best Australian-designed product, service or project and is awarded to the entry that has the potential to shape the future economic, social, cultural and environmental aspects of our planet.

    This was an inspiring example of human centred design in practice. The evidence of the engagement of people from the community, and the persistence of the team should be an example for future projects of this type. The approach led to a deep understanding of the complexities of creating culturally sensitive housing in remote Australia, and as a result an extraordinary outcome of which both the team and the community can be proud.
    The Good Design Awards Jury comment:

    The great thing about these awards is that they celebrate two distinct aspects of this project:

    + our seven-years spent working with the Anindilylakwa people to improve life on the Groote Archipelago through better designed housin g. By working with community over several years, we were able to enhance built environment literacy and empower people to be proactively involved in the design of their housing.

    + in 2020, TF.A launched a series of evidence-based tools to measure a project’s social impact. By applying our ‘Social Return on Design Investment’ (SRODI) kit to this project, we confirmed that the shift towards Local Decision-Making enhanced feelings of community confidence, happiness and cultural safety.

    The co-design process gave people the power to choose and the power to make decisions from their own mind and heart. Decisions we’ve never made before. Cherelle Wurrawilya, Chair of the Anindilyakwa Housing Aboriginal Corporation

    Emma Brain

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  • Martuku Jijiku Maya opens in Newman

    Martuku Jijiku Maya opens in Newman

    Last Friday was a special day at The Fulcrum Agency with the opening of Martuku Jijiku Maya, a hostel for Martu secondary students in Newman, WA. The celebration was attended by Regional Development Minister Alannah MacTiernan, Board members of Jamukurnu Yapalikurnu Aboriginal Corporation (JYAC), members of the Martu community and prospective families.

    Regional Development Minister Alannah MacTiernan cuts the ribbon to officially open Martuku Jijiku Maya on Friday 12 August, 2022.

    Martuku Jijiku Maya came to us through our colleagues at Engawa Architects; we developed their design and managed the project through to completion. The spaces are domestic in scale and feeling, while dashes of colour help to distinguish between buildings.

    Martuku Jijiku Maya

    Described by Minister MacTiernan as a ‘game changer for kids growing up in Martu communities’, the hostel will provide young Martu people with access to quality education whilst remaining close to their families and Country. Students will be educated in Martu lore and the Australian curriculum – enabling them to walk successfully in both worlds.

    ‘The Martu Student Hostel will be a place for learning and for young people to become the Martu leaders of tomorrow.’ JYAC Chair Melvin Farmer

    It is always a privilege to be involved in projects that positively impact the lives of children living in First Nations communities. You can read the full case study on here .

    Emma Brain

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  • A ‘conversation hour’ with Andrew Broffman and Dillon Kombumerri

    A ‘conversation hour’ with Andrew Broffman and Dillon Kombumerri

    TF.A’s Sydney-based Principal, Andrew Broffman , joined Dillon Kombumerri , Principal Architect at the Government Architect NSW, for a conversation about the Connecting with Country framework, which is currently being tested.

    The interview ends with this beautiful line: ‘Connecting with Country is a provocation, a guide, and a gift,’ and is worth reading by anyone working in the built environment… Go here .

    Emma Brain

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  • Emma Williamson on ANZ Breathe

    Emma Williamson on ANZ Breathe

    TF.A Partner Emma Williamson is regularly invited to provide her thoughts on architectural projects around the country. Go here to read her review of Breathe ‘s radical re-thinking of the ANZ bank branch.

    Image: Tom Ross

    Breathe ANZ represents a significant change in the ways in which the bank operates and staff are used to working.

    Emma Brain

  • TF.A supports new First Nations work at the Blue Room Theatre

    TF.A supports new First Nations work at the Blue Room Theatre
    Read dirt, tea and attempted murder….

    Together with our friends at Block Branding , we are thrilled to announce our sponsorship of SAND, a new play by Zac James and Dureshawar Khan, to be presented at the Blue Room Theatre in November.

    1927 in the scorching deserts of Western Australia, Abdullah, an Afghan cameleer obsessed with tales of Camelot, meets Jarntu, a proud Yamatji man on a journey to save his daughter from a white man’s disease. Together they follow a trail of betrayal and murder that leads them to the tree of eternal knowledge, tasked to spread peace across the desert!

    The play is described as a ‘journey of culture, love, murder and the Blak history of Australia, brought to the stage with puppets and a kick*** soundtrack.’ We can’t wait to see it and are proud to again be able to support First Nations storytelling in WA.

    Book your tickets via the Blue Room website .

    Emma Brain

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  • How climate change is turning remote Indigenous houses into dangerous hot boxes

    How climate change is turning remote Indigenous houses into dangerous hot boxes

    The Conversation have published an excellent article by Simon Quilty and Norman Frank Jupurrurla on climate change and the impact on remote Indigenous housing. In many ways it summarises the conversations we’ve been having in our practice in recent months. The video interview with Mr Jupurrurla tells us just about all we need to know about designing in remote communities: https://bit.ly/TheConversation_ClimateIndigenousHousing

    BOM Heat Map

    For too long architects have been pre-occupied with using passive design principles to mitigate the need for air-conditioning. Design in the north of Australia has often been done through a lens of ‘thermal moralism’ –  seeing the need for air-conditioning as a failure of good design. But as this article (and other research we’ve contributed to [ see here ]) describes, living without air-conditioning is becoming increasingly difficult and this will only worsen as temperatures rise across the north.

    Emma Brain

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  • Emma Williamson named Fellow of the Australian Institute of Architects

    Emma Williamson named Fellow of the Australian Institute of Architects
    Image: Lewis Catalano

    TheFulcrum.Agency Partner and Co-Founder, Emma Williamson has been named a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Architects in recognition of her contribution to the profession beyond architectural practice.

    Emma’s work is driven by her belief in the potential of design to improve everyday experience. Above all, she is committed to expanding design-related conversation beyond the architecture profession, and to breaking down barriers for others to contribute ideas. She uses practice as a platform for contributing to social and political discourse.

    Emma has always been motivated to address inequity in practice, particularly regarding the ability of women to maintain meaningful careers in architecture. In 2014, she was appointed the Chair of the Australian Institute of Architects Gender Equity Committee and continues to advocate for workplace conditions that enable women to balance work and family life.

    In 2018, Emma founded TheFulcrum.Agency, a creative consultancy that leverages community and social outcomes through evidence-based design thinking, advocacy and research. TF.A is a Social Enterprise, Certified B Corp and one of the few architecture practices in Australia to have an endorsed Innovate Reconciliation Action Plan.

    In addition to her work in practice, Emma is a recognised for skills in project critique. She is a member of both the Western Australian and South Australian State Design Review Panels, as well as Chair of various local government Design Review Panels. After many years as an academic, Emma still lectures occasionally through her role as Adjunct Senior Research Fellow at Monash University.

    Congratulations, Emma!

    Emma Brain

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  • A short film about one of our most important projects

    A short film about one of our most important projects

    The Anindilyakwa Housing Aboriginal Corporation (AHAC) Housing Programme Handbook is the culmination of many years spent working in collaboration with AHAC and the local Anindilyakwa community.

    In this short video, Heather MacRae describes how the Handbook enables the community to make decisions and deliver their own built environment projects.

    Emma Brain

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Fremantle/Sydney
+61 (0)8 6111 0949


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