Vanessa Bird has been re-appointed to the Melbourne Design Review Panel for a second term. Lord Mayor Sally Capp says “Over the past two years, the panel has made a significant impact on $500 million worth of projects – shaping and refining high quality, innovative design that celebrates heritage and contemporary living.”

Deputy Lord Mayor Nicholas Reece added “Melbourne has a distinct design identity that is highly valued and must be preserved. The panel has really proven its value by ensuring major projects use materials and concepts that represent our city and tell a story about Melbourne.” Vanessa welcomes ten new members to the Panel. Read more here

Our Carbon Neutral Audit for FY2021 is complete and we are proudly Certificed Carbon Neutral, again.

Always trying to do better, this year we reduced our electricity consumption by 49% through behavioural change, and reduced our travel footprint by 57% after switching to online meetings whenever possible.

After committing to Architects Declare in 2020 we completed a 3 step process:

1. We commissioned a NoCo2 audit with the Carbon Neutral Institute to measure our carbon footprint
2. Switched to 100% Green Power, no fossil fuels and offset with credits from Biomass with India Clean Energy
3. We committed to annual audits of our emissions.

See our listing in the Low Carbon Economy suppliers site. We also have Carbon Neutral Service Certification.

Vanessa Bird joins the City of Melbourne's MDRP along with 40 other colleagues appointed to provide design advice on City of Melbourne led projects and planning applications.

The MDRP will include a pool of 10 expert members from the disciplines of architecture, landscape architecture, urban design, heritage, sustainability and transport planning. 

'Melbourne has a strong design culture and is made up of many fine buildings, and I look forward to working with the MDRP to produce positive outcomes for our city and its people', says Vanessa.

Read more:

ArchitectureAU City of Melbourne Appoints two new Design Advisory Bodies or The Age Design Panels to tackle Melbourne's 'crap' buildings