KTA

The conversation highlighted the complexities around First Peoples strong connection to water, and the limitations of the contrasting western perspective. We were fortunate to be able to share this moment with a few of our friends in the industry as we recognise the need to step away from our computers for a moment in order to appreciate the amazing wisdom and knowledge that Jack was willing to share.

NAIDOC week is such a significant time of year as it is a time to celebrate First Peoples’ cultures and thinking, and as it comes to an end it’s crucial to understand the importance of learning about and honouring our rich cultural history. It also allows us to reflect on ourselves at KTA, and our commitment to celebrating and magnifying the voices of First Peoples through all aspects of what we do.

Over a century of Australia’s inventive multi-dwelling housing has been documented through this nationwide network of educators, practitioners and students, spanning every state & territory.

As one of the world’s most urbanised populations, and contrary to Australia’s perceived suburban identity, many Australians live in apartments. Australia’s history of modern urbanisation has been relatively short but spirited, shaped by a rich body of inventive multi-dwelling architecture that has supported diverse ways of living.

Responding to curators Wang Shu and Lu Wenyu’s theme, Do Architecture – For the Possibility of Coexistence Facing a Real Reality, “Lived In” will bring these built projects to life in Venice through drawings, data, photographs and film – exploring how housing both shapes, & is shaped by, everyday life.

The project reflects the urgent conversations Australia is having about housing, density, affordability & climate – and the value of learning from what we’ve already built.

Thank you to the AIA as Commissioners and Jury: Adam Haddow, Senlina Mayer, Candice Halliday, Cameron Bruhn and Michelle Newton for this opportunity to contribute to a critical global conversation.

Much appreciation for architecture schools around the country and across the Housing Atlas network.

We acknowledge the support of our partners:
Principal Partner: Brickworks Building Products
Project Partner: Creative Australia
Curatorial Partner: The Alastair Swayn Foundation
Australian Presenting Partner: Museums of History NSW, co-presenting the exhibition in Sydney in 2028
Venice Partner: Planned Cover
Media Partner: ArchitectureAu

Image: Matthew Stanton. Napier Street Housing, KTA, 1998

Darcie joined KTA as an Architectural Graduate back in 2022, and this month officially passed her Architectural Practice Exam.
It has been genuinely rewarding watching her growth and supporting her through this milestone.
Well deserved, Darcie.
We’re excited to see what’s next…

A few highlights from the interview:
“The most important thing is the form and proportion of the rooms” – on her RMIT education and a healthy scepticism toward details designed for their own sake.
On her approach to detailing at KTA: direct, economical, and pragmatic – with a goal of reducing exceptional details and the drawings that come with them.
And a provocation worth sitting with: “Many detail drawings produced today are redundant, since contractors end up redesigning the details anyway.”

The full interview available here

The talk will also explore the housing question in Australia and approaches to contemporary solutions that integrate social and climatic sustainability. The talk will also explore the housing question in Australia and approaches to contemporary solutions that integrate social and climatic sustainability.

Link to details

The Luminary award recognises excellence in a career in design and celebrates the contribution of industry icons. Each year four Luminaries are nominated and showcased across Indesign Media Asia Pacific platforms and accorded the highest of all accolades, that of being named a Luminary. Each Luminary sets an example for us all and they are truly an inspiration to be honoured.

Read more about Kerstin and her nomination in Indesign issue 95.

Kerstin will be talking to the title ‘Is time the right thing to value and sell?’:

Architects typically structure fees around estimates of time for the doing, the production.

But ideas can arrive fast, very fast. Insight and judgement too. They surface from a reservoir of wisdom accrued over a long time from experience and can be applied quickly to new situations.

So the risk of selling the value of time is that the idea is for free. Or at the very least, undervalued.

Perhaps now is the time to sell the value of insight, knowledge, ideas: what unlocks a site, overcomes a seemingly intractable constraint or offers a new way of thinking.

Through a handful of projects and diagrams Kerstin will provoke a rethink of where our value lies: what kind of service, at what stage and over what period of time yields the greatest impact for built excellence?

The Symposium will be held at Bond University’s Gold Coast campus from Saturday 23 May – Sunday 24 May 2026.

Link to tickets.

We look forward to the next phases of this project, with construction anticipated to begin in late 2026.

Link to the Article.

Over the past few years, Victoria’s Planning System has undergone a period of generational reform. This has created a series of new planning approval pathways for projects that demonstrate a higher standard of design quality, while at the same time seeking to codify and streamline building siting and design matters across activity centres and residential neighbourhoods.

As a result, the role and importance of ‘good design’ for a project has changed from something that previously formed one part among many to an element that can fundamentally alter how a project navigates the planning system. ‘Design excellence’ is no longer a supporting consideration; it has become a decisive lever that can materially influence approval timeframes, risk profiles and project viability. These reforms have also reshaped the roles of architects, planners, developers and decision-makers, creating new models of advocacy and collaboration within the planning process.
Kerstin will be joined on the panel by Matt Cohen, Director of Development Assessment at the Department of Transport and Planning, Briony Massie, Associate Director at Fieldwork, and Jessie Legge, Senior Development Manager at Milieu.

Link to tickets.

The book launch will include a panel discussion with Kerstin Thompson (KTA), Suzanne Zahra (Lovell Chen), and Tim Brooks (Fieldwork). The discussion will be moderated by Associate Professor Rory Hyde and will include Professor Hannah Lewi, Associate Professor Cameron Logan and Professor Robert Crawford, co-authors and contributors of the book.

Together they will discuss best practice in adapting and reusing historic buildings and landscapes in Australia over the past decade.

When: 6pm Wednesday May 20, 2026

Where: CY Venue, Unit 2/35 Johnston St, Collingwood VIC 3066 (Collingwood Yards)

Tickets: $5 (link) – ticket price redeemable as a discount from book purchases

The project was delivered in association with Hayball for Homes Victoria’s Big Housing Build, and aims to be an exemplar model for the Missing Middle – higher density medium height housing.

We look forward to taking the Awards Jury through the project in the coming weeks.

Link to the full list of shortlisted projects – congratulations to all our peers!

Joined by Hazel Porter and David Welsh, the article shares insights into how these critical aspects are managed across small, medium and large practice.

Link to the article.

DATE: Thursday 12 March
TIME: 1pm
LOCATION: RMIT Building 100, Level 3 Lecture Theatre

This talk is a part of the Architecture Advanced Technology Lecture Series. Architecture Advanced Technology is a course in the first year of the RMIT Master of Architecture program and is coordinated by Daniel Maunders.

Together, the panellists Katelin Butler, Georgia Birks, Naomi Stead, Kerstin Thompson, and moderated by Fleur Watson will explore why building is important, but telling buildings’ stories may be equally so.

Date: Tuesday 10 March 2026
Time: Commences at 5:30pm, event concludes 7:00pm
Venue: Australian Institute of Architects, Level 1, 41 Exhibition Street, Melbourne 3000
Catering: Refreshments provided
Registration: Closes 2 March 2026

Link to event

The publication showcases design and practice-based approaches to the sustainable, adaptive reuse of historic places. Building on their extensive research in the field, Hannah Lewi and Cameron Logan have engaged a wide range of leading architects and heritage practitioners to gain firsthand insights into the delicate and complex task of creating contemporary spaces from much-loved, but timeworn, buildings.

KTA is pleased to have the below projects recognised alongside our peers as precedents in this area:
The Stables, Victorian College of the Arts, University of Melbourne by Kerstin Thompson Architects with Lovell Chen Architects | 2018
Broadmeadows Town Hall by Kerstin Thompson Architects | 2018
Church on Napier by Kerstin Thompson Architects with James Stockwell Architect | 2019

For First Peoples, this date is not a day of celebration, but a constant reminder of the calamitous and ongoing impact that colonisation has had on their rich history of culture and ways of life. The date signifies the beginning of a violent attempt to claim lands that had been cared for and stewarded for tens of thousands of years. Lands stolen through force, followed by decades of attempts to erase one of the world’s oldest continuing cultures. The divisiveness of this date is a straight contradiction of what any day celebrating this nation should be about.

We also take a moment to reflect on ourselves at KTA, and our commitment to celebrating and magnifying the voices of First Peoples through our work. We look at the year ahead with anticipation, recognising that there is ongoing work we must undertake to build on foundational stepping stones. From our work with diverse First Peoples’ practitioners, to the relationships we have built and hope to grow with Traditional Custodians throughout Victoria and on Olkola Country in Far North Queensland, we’re energised for what the year may have in store.

Location: Traditional lands of the Bunurong (Boon Wurrung) people

As Sustainability Lead, Darcy drives our practice’s environmental design agenda, working collaboratively across project teams to integrate regenerative and low-carbon design principles. His appointment recognises both his individual contribution to the practice and his leadership in positioning sustainability as central to our architectural approach.