Tell me about your background – where you grew up, studied, and have worked.
I grew up in Wellington. My parents were both born in remote parts of the West Coast – ‘Coasters’ as they were known colloquially. There was a large age gap between them, as Dad had decided to establish himself professionally and financially before he married and started a family. He held a senior role at the Post Office, and Mum was a nurse, so it was a secure and comfortable childhood – but we didn’t have a lot of downtime. Mum enrolled us in swimming, elocution, ballet, and piano lessons, and set a rigorous homework schedule.
Dad was a tough customer – a champion rower, who set very demanding standards in the household too. One day at school, I was knocked over and crashed down on my wrist. At hospital, a nurse was about to set my arm a plaster cast when Dad intervened: “She is swimming in the National Champs on Saturday, put a bandage on her wrist!” I learnt at an early age that life requires resilience.
This subsequently prepared me for a career in architecture, which also demands resilience! After completing my studies at Victoria University, I worked as a project architect at Craig Craig Moller. In 1990, I established Taylor Architects, where much of the work I did was in the parliamentary precinct, and in 2014, I became General Manager of Precinct Services at Parliament. Since 2015, I have worked in Auckland as an associate at Context Architects.
Over the years, I have served as chair of the Institute’s Wellington Branch, as a member of the former Architects Education and Registration Board (now the New Zealand Registered Architects Board) and been a New Zealand Registered Architects Board assessor.
For me, architecture is the perfect profession, with its combination of arts and science. In a single day, it can take you from a building site to a board room. Few careers offer such stimulation and variety. Every day is a new challenge.
What most excites you about this role?
With climate change arguably the biggest challenge ever faced by the profession, our members and the public will be looking to the Institute for strong, strategic leadership. That makes this an exciting time to take on the role of President – a significant responsibility that I do not take lightly.
I am privileged and excited to lead a Board comprising such diverse, vibrant and highly skilled architects from around New Zealand, which is committed to mitigating the effects the construction industry has on the environment. As President, I will be part of a continuum of strong leadership from past Presidents and I’m excited to chart a clear course for the Institute that will bridge that past to the industry’s future.
What are the biggest challenges currently facing the profession?
Climate change. As a profession, we cannot coast along relying on existing skills to solve emerging issues. It can be hard to remain focussed on climate change when there is so much else barrelling towards us. We’re still living through a pandemic, which has driven major supply chain issues and rising costs. I can’t recollect a time in my career when the profession has faced so much change. Covid-19 has altered our lives inequitably. Wealth inequality continues to rise and we’re seeing an increasing sense of disenfranchisement in Aotearoa.
With a severe shortage of quality, affordable housing, we’re seeing overcrowded homes and associated health and social issues. On top of this, many people struggle with the cost of keeping below-average housing warm and dry. Architects have the skills to design warm, healthy affordable and sustainable housing and the profession must play a leading role in driving better living conditions for all.
There are many further challenges in the industry – changes to building regulations, labour and skills shortages, the increasing complexity of fire design and evolving design skills to address medium-density housing design. We’re grappling with the mental health impacts this combination of issues is having on our people. These challenges are multiple and diverse but also interrelated. As an industry, we must keep them, and the people they affect, at front of mind.
Where do you think the profession will be in 10 years?
I feel upbeat about the future. In 10 years, I believe we’ll have the strategies in place to address many of the issues we face at present. What I find exciting is the explosion of virtual and augmented reality that is happening right now. Parametric modelling has enabled us to design buildings that would never have been achievable before. The metaverse has created an immersive world where architecture is increasingly innovative and accessible. Clients will have greater input through immersing themselves in the design process and we will see a democratisation of design as people become more actively engaged in architecture. As these technologies continue to be developed and refined, I think we’ll see them filter into the mainstream. As a result, the range of services, skills and specialisation architects offer will expand, and graduates will have a greater selection of career paths to choose from.
The democratisation of design and increasing engagement with architecture from those outside of the profession, such as clients, is largely positive. But it will remain vital that the Institute and NZRAB continue to advocate for architects as the professionals with the technical skill, practical understanding, analytical ability, and creative flair to create better buildings, safer places and more resilient communities. Emphasis will need to be placed on the rigorous registration procedure required to become an architect, the code of ethics we’re bound by, the regular professional development we must undertake, and the role of the NZRAB in holding us accountable for our actions.
What does diversity mean to you, and how can the Institute best support pay, gender and racial equity among architects?
I was lucky to grow up in a household where diversity was embraced and celebrated. As a young woman, my mother nursed in Fiji and became fluent in the language. When I was a child, Fijian nurses doing midwifery training in Wellington would come to our home for fun, food and family support. Mum’s best friend, a Fijian woman called Queenie, became my second mother.
We would often have international university students live with us too – from places like Thailand or Indonesia. On Saturdays, they’d take over the kitchen and prepare these magnificent feasts, and our home would be full of delicious smells and colour and music. I was a pre-schooler, and these women were so caring towards me.
So for me, diversity is a celebration of cultural richness and delight – and in our workplaces and built environments, this can only be of benefit. Today, I work in an office that has websites in two languages and at one point, 21 different languages were spoken in our office. As architects, we must understand the communities we’re working with and for. We should be acknowledging and respecting indigenous values and technologies, and working in partnership with the increasingly diverse communities of Aotearoa.
I believe most practices are good employers because, as designers, we tend to be comfortable with, and recognise the value of, diversity. We have an extraordinary number of talented people entering the profession who live and breathe these values. Architecture is no longer the male-dominated profession it used to be, with the gender of architects born since the mid-1980s split evenly between male and female, and the numbers of non-Pākehā architects increasing year on year.
As a founding member of the Diversity Accord, the Institute advocates for equity through awareness, empowerment, and action. The Institute’s remuneration survey, published annually, is an effective tool for ensuring pay equity. In 2017, to honour Te Tiriti o Waitangi and its principles of partnership, participation and protection, Te Kawenata o Rata formalised the Institute’s collaborative relationship with Māori design network Ngā Aho. A member of the network is appointed to the Council for a two-year term, ensuring representation of Māori at governance level and I look forward to working alongside and learning from the current and future Ngā Aho Directors.
Of course, pay gaps remain across gender and ethnicity, and we can do better. With the current industry-wide skills shortage and the increasingly diverse population of Aotearoa, it’s my view that practices not on board with equity and diversity in the workplace will be left behind.
How can the Institute support emerging professionals?
There’s a very steep transition from study to practice, so anything we do to support graduates is important. The newly developed Emerge webinar series is a positive move in the right direction. It will help graduates with industry basics they may not have learnt at architecture school – for example, consenting, standards, grades, codes, and brands. By supporting graduate development, and the speed at which they reach a high level of competency, the Institute will strengthen the pool of talented graduates available to member practices.
It’s also important that the Institute encourages practices to support their graduates towards registration. Many practices are good at offering graduates the range of experience required for them to develop their skillset and achieve registration. But others may need further encouragement and support, as they risk losing talented graduates to practices that offer a better range of experience.
How should the Institute help and encourage architects and the wider construction industry to tackle sustainability and climate change?
Members have made it very clear that the Institute must lead by example. As a result, it has measured its carbon footprint and will seek input from members on initiatives to reduce it. This is only one step, but by undertaking the initiative and making the necessary changes, the Institute acts as a role model for practices wanting to reduce their own carbon footprint.
Of course, there are many other ways that the Institute can encourage, support and celebrate sustainability in the industry. Buildings contribute to between 10 and 20 per cent of New Zealand’s carbon footprint, presenting the industry with an opportunity to make a significant impact on the country’s emissions. The Institute will continue to build momentum through encouraging, promoting and supporting its members in the delivery of sustainable practices. This is being done through webinars, and by working and networking with industry partners like BRANZ, New Zealand Green Building Council, Kāinga Ora, Passive House Institute New Zealand, and suppliers – many of whom are driving change in their own businesses already.
While larger practices may have in-house specialists, the Institute must ensure it is supporting small practices in their sustainability journey. Ongoing education and support will mean all members are upskilled in the delivery of sustainable buildings.
As architects, we can work collaboratively with clients to upgrade ageing or redundant buildings and help investors upgrade their property portfolios and go green. The Institute should also place greater emphasis on recognising sustainable design excellence in its awards programme and should publish case studies to inspire clients and show them what ‘good’ looks like.
Do you have any advice for maintaining a good work-life balance?
Having family support is important. My partner was very good at just letting me off-load when I would arrive home exhausted and wrung out by the challenges of the job. Setting up a practice from home was a hard choice to make but when I left Craig Craig Moller, my partner provided the IT and accounting support and was a very active part of my business. I sought drafting and technical support and we hired a cleaner, gardener, housekeeper and nanny, which meant we could both put 100 per cent of our focus into work.
I suffered from the guilt that is an inherent part of parenting and I did get a call one day from kindergarten saying ‘Judith, when are you going to pick up your son?’ I had my nose in the computer and was so absorbed in my work that I had lost all sense of time. It is demanding and I don’t believe anyone feels like they are doing it perfectly. But we managed well as a family.
’ve always maintained a close association with the Institute, knowing I could call on members for support. I think one of the strengths of the Institute is the network of people who are willing to provide professional support to each other.
What are some of the most memorable moments of your career?
My first job upon graduation was on a 30-storey, high-rise construction site, as assistant to the site architect. Forty years ago, having a young woman on site was unusual, so the men decided I needed to pass an ‘initiation test’. They took me to the 30th floor, got me to step into the bucket of the crane, swayed it over the edge of the building and dropped it 30 storeys.
The clerk of works was in the bucket with me, and he said ‘hang-on, this guy’s very skilled, you’ll be alright.’ He drew the bucket to a halt probably four inches above the pavement. You would never get away with it today, imagine!
But I think one of my worst experiences came when I was working on a building clad in more than 100 different pre-cast concrete panels. It was a complex shape, so I needed to get it right. I took the drawings home, spread them out all over the floor, turned the phone off and checked each panel one-by-one. Then the drawings went to the pre-cast engineers, and they checked them again, so the design team was satisfied that we had all done a good job.
Monday morning came and my phone rang at 7am. It was the site foreman. The enormous two-storey concrete panel that sat over the building’s main front entrance had been delivered overnight from Otaki, oversize pilot vehicle and all. It was the wrong size and had to be sent back to the plant!
Architecture is a complex and challenging profession and no matter how much effort we put into getting things right, problems can arise. The beauty of the profession is that you are part of a team of experts who work through these challenges together. I still don’t know how this mistake came about but it was corrected, and we moved on as a team. It takes hard work and resilience, but I wouldn’t want to do anything else.
