On Friday 6 November, our Head of Design, Michael Nowlan, joins Amanda Sturgeon and Marnie Hawson at Lander—Se in Red Hill for Designing for Nature, an afternoon conversation on how landscape shapes the way we design, build and live. The talk is presented with Small Giants and moderated by artist and curator Hannah Nowlan.
At its centre is a question we come back to on every project: how a site's history and conditions shape what gets made on it, and what it means to design with land rather than against it. The three speakers come at it from very different scales.
Amanda Sturgeon is CEO of The Biomimicry Institute, an award-winning architect, and the author of Creating Biophilic Buildings. A Fellow of the American Institute of Architects and a TED speaker, her work centres on reconnecting people and nature, from single buildings to whole cities.
Michael Nowlan is Head of Design at The Sociable Weaver, where he leads the design of homes that balance environmental performance, material impact and occupant wellbeing. A Certified Passive House Designer and qualified Life Cycle Assessor, he approaches each project through the lens of place, seeking to create buildings that work with the landscape rather than against it. He is currently living on a small site and experiencing firsthand how designing for nature can create meaningful experiences within a limited footprint.
Marnie Hawson spent a decade as an environmental scientist before becoming a photographer of sustainable architecture and regenerative landscapes. She is Australia's only Certified BCorp photographer, and the founder of Wild Houses, a one-to-one nest box pledge for built environment businesses for which we The Sociable Weaver are thrilled to be part of. Marnie also runs The Biodiversity Toolkit, which turns Biodiversity Sensitive Urban Design principles into something a designer can specify and put in a tender.
The panel discussion sits alongside VEIL, a solo exhibition of atmospheric paintings by Irish-Australian artist Leyla Bulmer who is based locally in Shoreham. This exhibition is on view at Lander—Se from 31 October to 22 November. The work sits in the misty threshold between sea and sky. VEIL is expansive in scale and asks to be looked at slowly, continuing Lander—Se's ongoing study of the Australian landscape and the spirit it carries.
Our panel discussion, Designing for Nature, carries that same question into architecture and the built world: how a site's history and conditions shape what gets made on it, and what it means to design with land rather than against it. Three vantage points on the same terrain, from regenerative design at a global scale, to a single house on a single block, to a home built with wildlife in mind.
Details
Friday 6 November, 1 to 3pm
Lander—Se, 585 Dunns Creek Road, Red Hill
$50, including catered grazing, light refreshments and a glass of wine by Kerri Greens
Bookings are essential and places are limited. Book at Lander—Se
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