Make every day count. That’s the advice from architect and urbanist Professor Helen Lochhead, who was appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) in the 2024 Australia Day Honours for distinguished service to architecture and urban design, to building regulation reform, to tertiary education, and to professional organisations.

A graduate of both the University of Sydney and Columbia University in New York, Helen is a woman who has certainly made every day count. A recipient of many prestigious travel scholarships and Fellowships including Fulbright, Bogliasco and the Harvard Lincoln/Loeb Fellowship, Helen also became a Churchill Fellow in 2010 to study recent models of urban regeneration that demonstrate a holistic approach to climate change and sustainability.

In her roles as Deputy NSW Government Architect for 9 years and then through various academic positions and board roles, Helen has worked on and influenced some iconic projects, including Sydney Olympic Park and Sydney Harbour Foreshore.

She has achieved a significant level of peer recognition and been much awarded. In 2019 the Australian Institute of Architects awarded Helen the Paula Whitman Leadership in Gender Equity Prize for her outstanding and determined individual contribution to the advancement of gender equity in architecture. And in 2015 she was appointed the first female Dean of the Faculty of Built Environment UNSW in Sydney and Pro Vice-Chancellor, Precincts in 2020.
An undoubted role model, champion and mentor for current and future female architects, Helen talks to Claire Braund about the challenges and highlights of being an architect and urban designer, the value of mentors and what architects can bring to the boards of organisations.

“What we can do as architects can make a difference to people's lives. And it's not just about designing beautiful buildings, it's actually about transforming people's lives.”

Podcast host: Claire Braund

Women on Boards (WOB) is an independent and action-oriented organisation founded in 2006 by Claire Braund and Ruth Medd, with a proud history of supporting women to leverage their professional skills and experience into leadership and non-executive-director roles.

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