Alvyn Williams is the founder of softloud architects, a small rural architectural practice located in coastal Victoria, Australia. softloud seek to engage clients and communities in a values-driven dialogue, creating deeply responsive places. Their values-based architectural process teaches people to clarify what is most important to them. This knowledge is used to modify the clients’ environment, making it coherent with who they are and the kind of world in which they want to live. softloud develop an empathic response to place, directing structure to mirror, merge and converse with landscape in a manner both soft and alive. Projects champion low consumption of energy and resources, combined with permaculture and regenerative design practices. Alvyn is inspired by the rhythm and movement of the natural world and his understanding of natural materials is informed by making prototypes with his own hands. softloud’s design response draws from the intricate web of relationships that makes up our environment and how that environment, in turn, shapes who we can be and what we can do as a culture.

Sydney-based Senior Sustainability Consultant specialising in circular economy, sustainable materials, whole life-cycle carbon reduction, nature impacts and dependencies, and the transition to net zero in the built environment. Specialist interest in design for a circular economy and its wide-ranging benefits for nature and communities, building retention, retrofit and optimising re-use opportunities in construction. Cambridge University graduate with an MSc in Environment and Sustainable Development from UCL. Chartered Environmentalist with ISEP.

Andrew is the Brisbane based sustainable design lead at Hassell. He is an architect with over 20 years’ experience across Australia, Europe and Asia. Throughout his career he has been fortunate enough to work on several leading designs, including Australia’s first certified Living Building, The Sustainable Building Research Centre at the University of Wollongong, whilst working at Cox architecture. He is a Regensis Institute Regenerative Practitioner and will share his insights on understanding the revolution the design process undertakes in aiming for regenerative outcomes.

Archie Patel, a doctoral scholar in Architecture at Deakin University, is researching Nature Experiential Archetypes—a framework for designing rich, spatial nature experiences in architecture. Having spent almost a decade exploring, refining, and reimagining approaches to biophilic design, she has developed a deep understanding of how architecture can foster meaningful connections with nature. Her work clarifies what ‘nature’ means in the built environment and develops strategies to translate these insights into design. She is currently with DesignInc Melbourne, translating her research into built spaces that strengthen our relationship with the natural world, with a vision for a future where we live in perfect balance with nature and nurture our inner biophilia.

Claire is the Director of Okana ANZ. The agile global built environment consultancy that is shaping tomorrow. Claire has extensive experience in regenerative design , data and digital processes, for purpose business strategy and living systems thinking. She is passionate about sufficiency in design and sees huge potential for the revitalisation of existing buildings, spaces and places to deliver much-needed social infrastructure for urban regeneration. Claire advocates for a shift in the way we approach buildings and sees them as catalysts for cultural learning, social connection and reconnecting with our living systems.

Clare is the Director of First Steps Count and the driving force behind this amazing child and community hub. With a background as a Speech Pathologist, she brings knowledge of health and community services and has a lifelong passion for creating better outcomes for children and families.

Clare Kennedy is a registered architect and founder of Five Mile Radius. With over a decade of experience across Australia, the UK, India and the USA, she leads the studio’s design vision, delivering projects that challenge conventional construction and demonstrate what circular, low-carbon architecture can achieve.

An expert in material technology, circular design and designing for disassembly, Clare focuses on integrating local, bio-based and recycled resources to create architecture that is progressive, robust and deeply connected to place. She works closely with clients, consultants and communities to ensure outcomes that are both technically rigorous and environmentally responsible.

Among many accolades, Clare is the recipient of the Australian Institute of Architects Dunbar Fellowship (2024) and serves on the University of Queensland Architecture School Advisory Panel.

Alongside practice, she contributes to the profession through teaching, writing and public speaking, helping shape the future of circular construction in Australia and beyond.

Damon is an experienced ESD consultant and Green Star assessor with an education in engineering and a family background in the environment. He is passionate about the creation of high-quality, self-sufficient buildings that are great for people, and which make a positive contribution to the local and global ecosystem.

David Kaunitz co-founded Kaunitz Yeung Architecture to focus on facilitating high quality architecture in some of the most disadvantaged communities and First Nations People in Australia and Asia-Pacific.

Underlying this is a deep commitment to participatory design and local construction. He has created a new paradigm that shows high quality, change making architecture is not a matter of cost, but of commitment.

He has worked in more than 40 Indigenous communities and authored the 2017 update to the Australian Government Department of Health’s ‘Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Funded Capital Works Projects – Facility Design Guidelines’.

He was the recipient of the 2020 NSW Australian Institute of Architect Reconciliation Prize, and the prestigious UIA Vassilis Sgoutas prize for Implemented Architecture Serving the Underprivileged.

Kaunitz Yeung Architecture’s numerous awards in Australia and abroad have included European Healthcare Design Awards, World Community Architecture Award, and the inaugural ArchitectureAU Award for Social Impact.

Driven by the belief that housing is a key human right, Gavin leads the Living Sector for i2C Architects.

Gavin is an engineer and architect with more than a decade of experience delivering projects in Australia and the United Kingdom. Gavin has extensive experience in the design and delivery of medium to large scaled residential, mixed-use, childcare, aged care and medical projects.

Adaptable, versatile, robust housing that is designed for the changing needs of residents and the climate is a key focus. His international experience has aided him in identifying adaptive reuse, retrofit and Passive House as key to our future housing design.

Josh joined the GECA team in 2023, bringing a breadth of experience from the not-for-profit, corporate and government sectors with a track record of creating lasting impact for organisations and communities.

Having worked extensively across countries, cultures, and industries, Josh believes that inclusive and courageous collaboration is the best way to get things done. He is thrilled to be using this passion to develop partnerships within the GECA Family and beyond for the good of people and planet. Whether you're a business, not-for-profit, community organisation or in the public sector, Josh is eager to connect with you to improve social and environmental outcomes.

Josh is proud to be leading an organisation that delivers positive environmental impact using globally-recognised best practice standards.

Laura is a sustainable building design consultant with Arup in Melbourne specialising in regenerative office design. She played a lead role in implementing the Living Building Challenge for the recently completed Arup offices in Auckland, Perth and Brisbane. This push towards healthy, net-positive design represents Arup’s desire to pursue sustainable development. Laura’s current work focuses on materials where she works closely with designers and industry to advocate for transparent and healthy products, and promotion of circular economy principles.

Laura Hamilton-O'Hara is an accomplished leader and advocate for sustainability and social justice, with over two decades of experience in the field. She has a Master's Degree in Social Ecology and an unwavering commitment to sustainability leadership.

Having held strategic positions at renowned institutions such as Taronga Zoo, Macquarie University, and the Centre for Sustainability Leadership, Laura's professional journey has been marked by her passion for creating positive change. She was recognised as one of the 50 Women in Global Sustainability Leadership by Sustainability X Magazine in 2022, a testament to her influential role in shaping sustainable practices worldwide.

Currently serving as the CEO of the Living Future Institute of Australia (LFIA), Laura spearheads the organisation's mission to harness the power of the built environment in creating a socially just, culturally rich, and ecologically restorative world.

Matt is a built environment sustainability consultant with 18 years experience. He achieved his undergraduate studies with an Honours double degree in Engineering and Science at the University of Melbourne. After working in automotive manufacturing, HVAC consulting and in the biotechnology industry, Matt joined Umow Lai Consulting Engineers. In 2018 Matt obtained his PhD in Biomimicry (Engineering-Architecture) at the University of Melbourne, which focussed on biomimetic solutions for building facades and biological thermoregulation. Matt shifted to academia for several years at Griffith University as a Lecturer focussed on biomimicry, construction management, building performance, architecture and sustainability.

In 2022 Matt moved back to consulting with Introba and works with clients to improve sustainability performance through life cycle analysis, energy modelling, design analytics (early phase quantitative design) and performance management. Alongside his Introba colleagues, Matt is focussed on regenerative practice, both internally as a framework for personal and professional development and externally as a method for living systems-focussed consulting to deliver holistic sustainability outcomes. He is interested in bringing nature-positive methods and frameworks, such as biomimicry, into built environment projects in practical and feasible ways.

Melinda Dewsnap is the Chief Resilience Officer with Resilient Sydney. Resilient Sydney is a collaboration of the 33 Greater Sydney Councils aligned with the global Resilient Cities Network and is working with State and Federal government partners, business, academia and community to strengthen the resilience of our City.

Mia lives and works on Wadawurrung Country, in Envirotecture’s Victorian studio. She has a Masters of Architecture with a focus on sustainability. She’s been working as a Graduate Architect on many award-winning biophilic design projects since finishing her Masters in 2016, and becoming a certified Passivhaus Designer in 2018. Mia has presented sustainable and regenerative design educational content to industry peers and was a finalist in the Sustainability Awards as Emerging Sustainable Designer. In her spare time Mia enjoys reading, writing, hiking and renovating – her favourite ways of following her sense of curiosity.

Michael is the General Manager of SHAPE Victoria, an ASX-listed leader in construction services with 120 staff in Victoria and 645 Australia-wide.

With qualifications in both civil engineering and architecture, Michael brings a rare depth of understanding across all facets of design, construction, and delivery. Michael specialises in Early Contractor Involvement (ECI) projects where his strategic vision and technical expertise allow him to guide teams seamlessly from ECI to practical completion delivering outstanding outcomes for clients and stakeholders.

Michael was responsible for the delivery of the revitalisation of Chadstone Place, Australia’s first project to achieve the prestigious Living Future Zero Carbon certification.

As a registered architect and Studio Lead at AJC architects in Sydney, Michael is committed to design solutions that are pragmatic, joyful, and meaningful. Over 18 years at AJC, Michael has contributed to award-winning projects across a range of sectors and at a variety of scales, including indoor sports centres, education facilities, community centres and public buildings.

He is deeply passionate about creating buildings and environments that make a positive contribution to human and natural systems. Sustainable and regenerative design are central to Michael’s design process. He promotes evidence-based design solutions that respond to global and local issues. His work demonstrates a robust consideration for material life cycles, upfront embodied carbon and building energy performance.

In 2024 Michael authored the AJC Sustainability Action Plan (SAP) and leads AJC’s Sustainability Working Group whose remit is to improve the sustainability of AJC’s portfolio of projects.

Throughout his career, Nick has helped clients navigate complex planning processes, develop innovative sustainability strategies and achieve a wide range of nationally and internationally recognised sustainability certifications.

He provides invaluable advice to help clients define and achieve their sustainability aspirations, and is passionate about exceeding even the most ambitious of targets.

A notable highlight of Nick’s career was the revitalisation of Chadstone Place, Australia’s first project to achieve the prestigious Living Future Zero Carbon certification. The project also achieved a 6 Star Green Design & As Built, 6 Star NABERS Energy and 6 Star NABERS water rating. The building’s sustainability features include full electrification, reuse of over 80% of an existing building, mixed-mode ventilation and installation of a 440kw solar array.

Nick is a qualified Green Star Accredited Professional, NABERS Energy Assessor (Australia and the UK) and CBD-accredited Assessor.

Richard is the Sustainability Team Leader at Arup in Melbourne. He has over 14 years of experience across Australia and internationally in building design and performance ranging from workplaces to masterplans. He is leading Arup's pursuit of the Living Building Challenge for their workplaces around the ANZ region and has been a Living Futures Accredited Professional for 3 years. He will bring his experience from his active client pursuits including a modular home prototype in South Australia, a workplace for Meridian Energy in Wellington and a residential development in Melbourne.

Dr Sarah Breen Lovett is an artist and academic, currently Senior Lecturer at the School of Architecture and Built Environment, engaging in practice-led, industry-collaborating and socially-engaged research projects. Across all of these modes of engagement, Sarah focuses on interconnectivity between self, community, built and landscaped environments through a combination of earth building, prefabricated architecture, wellbeing and eco-social practices.

Working with industry and peak bodies, Sarah is driven to research the use of earth materials in the building industry for more regenerative architecture. Sarah is particularly passionate about how earth building is on one hand a sustainable, low carbon material, which can be used to support planetary wellbeing; and on the other hand has many health benefits that can be used for the development of personal wellbeing.

Talina Edwards is a Director of Envirotecture, and cares deeply about creating healthy, beautiful, functional, comfortable and sustainable architecture which combines building-science and biophilic-design. Talina brings over 25 years experience to her architectural practice and has completed Passivhaus Designer certification and studies with the Living Futures Institute. Talina has gained recognition as an industry leader, celebrated for her sustainable architecture and her tireless work to build a better future. She advocated for more sustainable design as former co-ordinator of Australian Architects Declare, committee member of ArchiTeam Advocacy committee and served as a board member at the Australian Passivhaus Association.

At Duber Construction we combine all the essential ingredients to deliver a top quality home. Our commitment is to design and construct buildings that best reflect consideration for our planet and the well being of our clients.

We take an integrated approach to building and collaborate closely with architects, designers engineers and the owners. The results are highly satisfactory outcomes.

There’s no waste in nature
We actively promote all methods of waste reduction, recycling, up cycling and repurposing in all our construction.

This is a cost benefit for our clients and the right thing to do for our planet when considering that up to 40% of landfill is construction waste.

We bring together bespoke architecture with a philosophy of maximising sustainable and regenerative outcomes.

Our practices are informed by LBC - Living Building Challenge the most rigorous international sustainability level, the professionals and clients we work with and our own motivation to deliver best results.

The most commented feature of our projects are the quality of craftsmanship from our own team and subcontractors. The satisfaction of being part in creating unique and well crafted homes sustains the quality our clients expect and get from us.

Other features include
Active and passive solar design
Low embodied energy
Predominantly use of local materials and manufacturing
Low chemical use
Best practices in all areas of home design and construction
Heat recovery systems
Hydronic heating and cooling
100% recycled aggregate in our concrete work

We draw our lessons from traditional wisdom and the latest information on design aspects, new materials & building methods. The results are sophisticated and unique homes.
We believe that principled behaviour is more important than commercial gain. We deliver our designs at a fair price, and offer fixed price or cost plus contracts.