State Library of Queensland
Stanley Place
Brisbane Queensland 4101
— Google Maps
Tickets
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Program Info
In March of this year, the Queensland Government released the Brisbane Olympics 2032 Delivery Plan, sharing that it is “a plan designed to benefit the greatest number of Queenslanders as possible while delivering a successful Olympic and Paralympic Games.”
With this significant undertaking ahead, how can architects leverage this once-in-a-generation opportunity and contribute to great urban design that caters to both local and global expectations?
This symposium seeks to address questions like these by exploring both macro and micro design interventions in city making, reflecting on lessons learnt from previous events, and investigating the industry’s perspectives on the possibilities of the Olympics.
9.10 am
Introduction Georgia Birks and Katelin Butler, Architecture Media
Designing a lasting legacy
9.15 am
What are the possibilities? A panel discussion with Troy Casey, Blaklash (Brisbane), Tessa Leggo, Fred St (Brisbane), Deb Robbins, KPMG (Brisbane) and Kim Richards, Bureau Proberts (Brisbane), moderated by Michael Keniger, Bond University (Brisbane).
10.15 am
Morning tea
Learning from the past
10.45 am
Sydney 2000 Philip Thalis, Hill Thalis Architecture and Urban Projects (Sydney)
11.10 am
Vancouver 2010 Ann Duffy, Corporate Sustainability Officer at the Vancouver Organising Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games 2006–2010 (Whistler BC, Canada)
11.35 am
London 2012 Alex Wraight, Allies and Morrison (London, UK)
12 pm
Paris 2024 Cécilia Gross, Venhoeven CS (Amsterdam, Netherlands), and Laure Mériaud, Ateliers 2 3 4 (Paris, France)
12.25 pm
Lunch
Making the most of the opportunity
1.40 pm
A games for all: Designing for accessibility Kylie Nixon, Arup (Brisbane)
2.05 pm
Surprising interventions: A landscape approach Matthew Durning, Aspect Studios (Brisbane)
2.30 pm
Urban connections: New active transport systems Matthew Eagle, ME (Gold Coast)
2.55 pm
Housing futures: Modular construction Felipe Miranda, Cox Architecture (Sydney)
Amplifying the experience
3.20 pm
Some small ideas in the big picture Anna O’Gorman, Anna O’Gorman Architects (Brisbane)
Jared Webb, J.AR Office (Brisbane)
Emma Healy, Landings Studio (Brisbane)
Morgan Jenkins, Nielsen Jenkins Architects (Brisbane)
4 pm
Closing comments Georgia Birks and Katelin Butler, Architecture Media
Troy Casey is a proud Kamilaroi man and the managing director of Blaklash, an Aboriginal design consultancy focused on highlighting the importance of Country-centred design to deliver culturally responsive and inclusive places.
With a profound dedication to community development, Troy’s work sets a benchmark for community engagement and social innovation, emphasising the critical role design plays in creating positive social change by leveraging economic opportunities within the built environment.
By integrating traditional knowledge and contemporary design principles, Troy plays a pivotal role in collaborating with communities to ensure their voices are embedded in urban design and placemaking projects.
Tessa Leggo is the director of Brisbane-based landscape architectural design consultancy Fred St. She is a passionate landscape architect with extensive experience in the design of public open spaces, residential communities, transport infrastructure and more.
Tessa is the former Queensland chapter president for the Australian Institute of Landscape Architects, and a strong advocate for a more sustainable future for all of our communities.
Deb Robbins is an industry-leading landscape architect and urban designer with a passion for working through transformative design solutions that deliver community benefits. She enjoys designing in a way that explores the most important issues of our time – climate action, biodiversity loss and Country-centered design.
Deb has 30 years’ experience working as an urban designer and landscape architect, growing teams and collaborating with clients to create beautiful places. Over her career she has worked across many projects with public realm opportunities and has an interest in ensuring these projects establish a legacy beyond the hard infrastructure by creating lasting and sustainable benefits for the community through public realm, landscape, and open space opportunities.
Kim Richards is the head of practice at Brisbane-based studio Bureau Proberts. She is passionate about good design, connection and leaving a lasting legacy.
Kim has over 20 years of architecture and urban design practice management experience and is the former Member for Redlands in the Queensland Government. She brings a unique perspective on how government ambition and design innovation intersect, with a focus on legacy outcomes. Drawing on her parliamentary experience and deep knowledge of Queensland's growth, Kim offers insights into the opportunities and challenges of Brisbane's transformation leading to the 2032 Brisbane Olympic and Paralympic Games.
Michael Keniger is an honorary professor of architecture at Bond University, Queensland and a former Senior Deputy Vice Chancellor of the University of Queensland.
Michael served as the inaugural Queensland Architect from 1999 to 2006. With regards to the discussions concerning the Brisbane Olympics; from 1996 to 2001 he was appointed as the Interstate member of the Design Review Panel of the New South Wales Olympic Coordination Authority.
Philip Thalis is a founding principal of Hill Thalis Architecture and Urban Projects. The practice is recognised for its independent standpoint, winning more than 100 professional awards, commendations and competitions for architectural, urban, public space and heritage projects.
From 2016 to 2021, Philip was an elected Councillor of the City of Sydney, where he was able to advocate strongly for design quality and housing affordability, and for improved public transport, cycling and pedestrian amenity in the city. He was awarded the Australian Institute of Architects Gold Medal in 2024.
Corporate Sustainability Officer, Vancouver Organising Committee (Olympic Games 2010 and Paralympic Winter Games 2006–2010)
Ann Duffy is an accomplished and engaging thought leader, advisor and speaker on regenerative design, sustainability, legacy and impact for Olympic and Paralympic Games, World Cup sport events, sporting organisations, business and host cities.
With over 30 years of experience, Ann brings her experience, global network, curiosity and penchant for strong engagement and innovation to client projects and forums. She marries place-based design, multi-party planning, mega-sport event hosting to create meaning and multi-faceted legacies.
Alex Wraight joined Allies and Morrison in 2000, after having worked in Dublin and Malaysia, and became a partner in 2015.
He has led a wide range of commercial, residential and education projects, and oversees technical design across the practice. He is currently leading multidisciplinary teams on several high-profile projects, including the Cultural and Education District at East Bank in Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, the restoration of the fire-damaged Grade I listed Clandon Park for the National Trust, and major renewal works at the Barbican Centre for the City of London.
Cécilia Gross is an architect partner and director at Amsterdam-based Venhoeven CS. She studied architecture at the École des Arts et Industries de Strasbourg and Delft University of Technology. Fascinated by Dutch architecture and urban design, she moved to Amsterdam in 2001 and joined Venhoeven CS in 2003. In 2017, she became an architect partner, helping to guide the firm’s vision alongside her fellow partners.
Cécilia’s strength lies in uniting architectural and urban challenges, whether designing a school, a station, a mixed-use complex, or an entire district. Since 2014, she has also applied her expertise in her native country France, most notably in the design of the Olympic Aquatic Centre for the 2024 Paris Olympic Games. Passionate about her field, she actively shares insights on healthy cities, nature-inclusive design, and the architect’s power to connect and inspire.
Laure Mériaud is a partner architect at Ateliers 2 3 4, an architecture, urban planning and landscape design agency based in Paris and the overseas territories.
Since 2006, Laure and her partners at Ateliers 2 3 4 have been fostering a collaborative and multidisciplinary work on contemporary cities and living, using an open methodology that allows for flexibility and innovation at all levels of design and planning.
Laure’s diverse and award-winning portfolio includes, among others, the Olympic Aquatics Centre Greater Paris Metropolis and the National Centre for Inclusive Education.
Kylie Nixon is an associate principal at Arup with a background in civil engineering and transport planning. Kylie is dedicated to creating more inclusive, sustainable, and people-centred transport systems, and was a co-author of the Australian Government’s The Whole Journey: A guide for thinking beyond compliance to create accessible public transport journeys, which has shaped thinking nationwide around inclusivity in transport design.
Kylie had a key role for the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, laying the foundation for both Games-time operations and long-term legacy transport outcomes, and has contributed to various early planning for the Brisbane 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
Matthew Durning is studio director of Aspect Studios in Brisbane. He is passionate about centering Country and the natural environment in the creation of spaces that enhance public life.
Matthew is eager to advance the conversation about what the Brisbane Olympics could mean for the city and the opportunity we have to rethink Brisbane's public realm identity. Previously he has argued for the better use of the Brisbane River and the creation of a linear green spine using disused lots in anticipation of the event.
Matthew is the director and founder of architecture and urban design studio ME and a teacher at the Abedian School of Architecture at Bond University on the Gold Coast.
Matthew established ME in 2013 and is based at Jellurgal, Burleigh Heads, on the lands of the Kombumerri people. ME is a studio-based architecture practice that emphasises design, research, making and teaching as the primary areas of focus. Together with its clients, community, consultants and craftspeople ME investigates and seeks to understand the cultural, ecological, societal and historical narratives of place. This is in search of the making of authentic, sensitive and climatically astute spaces and places.
Felipe Miranda is a director at Cox Architecture and a national leader in residential design, with a focus on modular construction and build-to-rent housing. His work responds to Australia’s most urgent housing challenges, exploring how architecture can deliver sustainable, scalable, and socially responsive solutions.
Felipe leads major projects including Herring Road – on track to become Australia’s tallest modular residential tower – and Precinct 75, a build-to-rent development that provides more viable housing for long-term renters while protecting the existing creative fabric of the precinct.
Anna O’Gorman is an innovative architect whose work is defined by a deep commitment to community, culture, and environment. As the founder of Anna O’Gorman Architects, she leads a practice dedicated to creating meaningful and transformative spaces that connect people to their environment and context. Her projects range from cultural centres and housing developments to modular prefabricated systems, reflecting her innovative approach to design and problem solving.
She has worked with a number of award-winning studios in Brisbane and established Anna O’Gorman Architects in 2016 to collaborate closely with clients. Valuing this client-first approach above all else, Anna possesses an empathetic understanding of the relationship between people and place. She balances this insight with design intellect to create work that maturely responds to the project brief.
Jared Webb established J.AR Office in 2022, following a decade of working across acclaimed interior, architectural, and precinct-scaled projects.
Committed to delivering spaces that endure and operating across all scales, the Queensland-based office positions its work to foreground life and people. Each project is rationalised from the urban and social fabric in which it resides.
Morgan Jenkins is a director of Nielsen Jenkins, an architecture practice based out of Brisbane with active projects around the country.
Morgan travelled through London, Barcelona and Prague as part of the Dulux Study Tour in 2017 and was moved by the way some large practices had brought other design disciplines under their own studio roof. Since then, Nielsen Jenkins has employed landscape designers and plays an active role in the design, documentation and installation of landscape elements within their projects to achieve an integrated design outcome that gives equal priority to both the built and unbuilt components of site.
Emma Healy has 20 years’ experience in architectural practice across a variety of typologies and scales from housing, healthcare, institutional and educational projects. In 2021, she founded Landings Studio; an architecture and horticultural design practice which focused on community-led projects.
Emma previously worked as a project manager for Architects Without Frontiers, collaborated on the feminist research practice Women Build and is a past associate of Parlour. She has held teaching and research positions at the University of Queensland and Queensland University of Technology, focusing on climate responsive design and is a strong advocate for inclusivity and sustainability. Emma is currently the principal architect at City of Moreton Bay Council.
