associate director, urban design, stream leader – community masterplanning

Michelle can often be found talking to strangers.  She is genuinely curious about people, their stories and lived experience, and this openness creates unexpected connections. She is an enthusiastic and experienced urban designer, and frankly her enthusiasm is contagious. Michelle believes in the power of design to transform the experience of places, and directly shape the quality of how a community might engage with a place and one another. 

Michelle’s superpower lies in storytelling. A layered way of communicating through plans and designs that takes people along a journey of understanding the essence and qualities a place, whilst captivating their imaginations about a vision for change.

In all her projects regardless of scale, complexity or context, Michelle asks how sense of place, identity and connection be enhanced? She has a process to tease this out, & is grounded primarily in asking and learning, as the gateway to gaining trust & generating ideas.  

Throughout the process she remains curious and open to ideas as they present themselves, & challenges that invariably arise. Michelle embraces the idea that testing & adapting is fundamental to deliver a best practice project that meets the needs & expectations of the client, stakeholders, community, timeframes & budget in the most creative, memorable and deliverable manner.