Meet the QLD/NT Committee
The ACA QLD/NT Committee introduces new President Brett Hudson, Vice-President Adam Perrier, and an enthusiastic, committed team of practice owners and directors keen to make a difference for members in Queensland and the Northern Territory. Learn more about their roles, areas of interest, and goals with the ACA.
Brett Hudson, QLD/NT President
Peddle Thorp
Brett is the new President of the QLD/NT Committee and the Chief Executive Officer for Peddle Thorp QLD, who have been members of the ACA for over 20 years. Brett decided to join the committee in 2019 after a former director retired and an opportunity presented itself to have a voice in the profession and contribute to addressing the issues faced in architectural practices.
Brett has an interest in regaining and enhancing the important role the architect has in the creation of buildings and places in our communities. He believes that the voices of architects are being diminished at the same time as they are experiencing multiple challenges to run sustainable businesses. These challenges include the contractual and risk environment, the need for continuous education, changing compliance issues, higher cost and lower fees, and shrinking timeframes to undertake the work. All of these have placed enormous personal and business pressures on architects. Brett is looking forward to tackling the issues collectively and supporting each other with solutions.
Adam Perrier, QLD/NT Vice-President
Bloc Design QLD
Adam is the Vice-President of the QLD/NT Committee and Director of Bloc Design. He became an ACA member in 2018, shortly after establishing his practice on the Fraser Coast. Adam joined the committee after receiving a call from Gilda Donegan (then QLD/NT ACA President), asking about the issues facing practices in regional areas and her desire for greater representation from small regional practices. The discussion resonated about the challenges of business in the regions and the opportunity to address the issues from a business viewpoint.
The most important issue for Adam is the future sustainability of our profession. He feels that the ACA has an important role to play in ensuring that our architecture industry can grow, develop and remain a powerful force for the betterment of society. He is keen to explore the possibilities for practices of all sizes and locations to best navigate the future – focusing on the needs of what we must retain, develop and reinvent to grow as business leaders and strengthen our industry.
The advocacy efforts of the QLD/NT Committee are critical. “As architects, we must be articulate and continually voice our relevance, demonstrating the value of our contributions within the construction industry and broader society through collective leadership and innovation. Advocacy in architecture lies in promoting sustainability based on professional growth, high industry standards, education and training, economic viability, public awareness, legislative influence, collaboration, and cultural impact. These elements work together to ensure the profession remains relevant, resilient and capable of contributing positively to society.”
Denis Waring, QLD/NT Secretary
PW Architecture
Denis Waring has held the QLD/NT Branch Secretary position since 2012. He is the Principal Architect at PW Architecture, who joined the ACA in 2006 to advance their business acumen in running a practice and to connect with other practitioners. Denis joined the committee in 2010. His interest initially stemmed from being a small suburban practice, feeling isolated from the profession and seeking connection with fellow practitioners.
His primary interest has always been in education, encouraging young graduates through office mentoring and secondary school students via the work experience program. This has evolved into an interest in architectural education generally, and the registration of graduates as a past examiner with the Board of Architects. Denis has been a part of various education sub-committees exploring how we can improve the overall education experience for students, what and how they learn at university, and their introduction into work practices in an office environment.
“A constant has been the lack of practical knowledge gained prior to their working life and how we as an association can improve this for the benefit of graduates, young architects and their employers. I have represented ACA QLD/NT as a member of various groups, discussing these issues with members of the association, with faculty at Queensland universities, and more recently in a formal way with membership of the AACA ‘Pathways to Registration’ review group. I am currently on the ACA University Engagement expert working group. My goal is to see a more collaborative and holistic approach to architectural education, involving education providers and business, to provide a more knowledgeable and seamless transition into practice for those graduates wanting to pursue a career in architecture.”
Mark Williams, QLD/NT Treasurer
Mark Williams Architects
Mark is a former ACA QLD/NT President, ACA National Treasurer and current QLD/NT Treasurer. He is also the Managing Director of Mark Williams Architects. Mark first joined the QLD/NT committee in 2008 after a personal invitation from friend and colleague, Graham Hobbs. Over the years, he has made significant contributions to the work of the QLD/NT Committee, including coordination of the Salary Survey and involvement in Events and Advocacy.
Building forms an important part of Mark’s ‘DNA’. He comes from a line of builders, with his late father Wally Williams running his own successful construction business for decades. It’s not surprising then that Mark’s mind encompasses both building and architecture – taking a holistic approach rather than a piecemeal one. Working with his father’s construction company for over 10 years before starting his own architectural practice in 2005, Mark has a strong appreciation of ‘buildability’ as much as creating appropriate designs for his clients.
Mark says the biggest challenge for the architectural profession today is the lack of exposure of students and young architects to onsite construction experience and how to reverse this trend. To handle and work with materials on site with trades like bricklayers, concretors and carpenters will help them appreciate what is required when designing and documenting their next building.
Rebecca Caldwell, Business of Small Practice QLD/NT
Maytree Studios
Rebecca is the Director of Maytree Studios. She joined the ACA in 2020 when the ACA was the quickest off the mark to provide a force majeure amendment that could be added to building contracts. Rebecca put her hand up to start the Business of Small Practice event series (BoSP) in QLD/NT and then found out joining the committee was a requirement. She hadn’t been on a committee before so it’s a new learning curve! Rebecca is interested in promoting the positive story around how small architectural practices can be successful, sustainable and rewarding. She is keen to help build a community that supports architects to think and act differently to ensure the profession continues to evolve and meet clients where they need us.
Rebecca’s residential architecture practice Maytree Studios operates under an ethos of being ‘humans first, architects second’. Rebecca’s approach to ‘build small, build well’ makes architecture accessible to a broader range of clients, while Maytree’s employee co-ownership model shows her team how much they’re valued. Having slowly and sustainably grown Maytree over the last 12+ years, she has learned that building a thriving architecture business requires more than just good design – it also takes good practice management together with customer service that delivers the genuine connection clients are craving.
Justine Ebzery, Architects Mental Wellbeing Forum QLD/NT
Fulton Trotter Architects
Justine is a Director at Fulton Trotter Architects who have been members of the ACA for many years (see member profile). She joined the QLD/NT Committee in 2022 and has been the Queensland Chair of the ACA’s Architects Mental Wellbeing Forum since 2020.
Justine enjoys the opportunity to advocate for and contribute to the architecture profession and collaborate with other committee members. She is interested in ensuring that the business of architecture remains sustainable and strong so the profession can contribute to making our communities better. Justine is very interested in the wellbeing of those working in the architectural profession and believes that making our businesses strong and sustainable will support our wellbeing. The ACA provides a wealth of resources to support practices with this and advocates for the profession and the value architects can bring to projects via government and other client and industry agencies.
Mark Kennedy, Regional representative
Counterpoint Architecture
Mark is a director at Counterpoint Architecture (see member profile). He has been a member of the ACA since 2018 and on the QLD/NT committee since 2022. At the time, the committee was actively seeking to increase representation in the regions, and Mark was happy to join to provide perspective from the North Queensland region. Mark is a valuable member of the ACA’s National Regional Working Group.
Mark’s main focus are issues that relate to regional and small practice. “I believe regional areas are best served by strong and sustainable local architecture communities; however, many new practices struggle to get established and survive longer term. The ACA can continue to assist supporting new and emerging businesses to build up their business acumen, become more professional and more financially sustainable so that they can survive and thrive in their local communities. Where possible, the ACA could potentially facilitate group subscriptions or shared resources to help smaller practices professionalise their practices in the establishment phase without prohibitive costs. The ACA also has a role to play in advocacy for better procurement practices that value quality rather than just seeking the lowest dollar.”
Ben Madden, IR representative
Cottee Parker
Ben is a Senior Associate at Cottee Parker and has been on the QLD/NT Committee for two years. Ben became involved in the ACA, as he was keen to be an active contributor to the future of the industry and wanted to expand his understanding of the business of architecture through the company of other architects.
Issues of particular interest to Ben include productivity and the decline of profits within our industry; the increasing risk profile of contracts for our service; and declining project management skills. He is interested in developing information and tools to assist architects with managing scope, especially in BIM; and continuous education to teach core project management skills.
Cara Phillips
BSPN Architecture
Cara is a Studio Principal (Brisbane) at BSPN Architecture and a new member of the QLD/NT Committee. Cara is interested in advocacy to the community and the rest of the construction industry about the expertise of the role of the architect – inherently gained through many years of study and practice, and not replicated in Building Designers and Project Managers. She is also interested in architectural education, believing that tertiary degrees and competency standards need to be enhanced to ensure that the profession remains at the highest levels of both qualifications and expertise. She believes we need further discussions to help bridge the gap between university and practice to ensure that graduates maintain the highest level of expertise and professionalism prior to registration – perhaps through mandatory on-site experience and practice experience prior to graduation/registration.
Cara is keen to ensure that the ACA continues to advance the requests of the members and deliver meaningful advice/information to help practices with the business of architecture. “I have always enjoyed the ACA formats, information and events. They have been fun and engaging and I value the information put forward to help practices with the business of architecture – something many of us have traditionally struggled with as a profession.”
Joanna Rees, NT representative
Ajar Architects
Joanna is the owner of Ajar Architects and has been a member of the ACA since 2018. When NT representative Steve Huntingford recently retired from the Committee after eight years of service, Joanne agreed to take over the important role of NT representative on the QLD/NT Committee. Joanna believes that the ACA is very effective at providing easy to access architectural business resources. “To me personally, practising ethically is important. I wish to be involved in creating and improving existing spaces that are inclusive and delightful, while being sensitive to culture and environment.”
Gilda Donegan, Immediate past QLD/NT President
GHD Design
Gilda joined the Committee in 2014 and is the Immediate Past President of the QLD/NT Committee. She is the Studio Director of GHD Design (Qld), where she leads a diverse team to deliver large infrastructure projects primarily in the health, transport and defence sectors. Gilda joined GHD in 2019 after almost 20 years with Jackson Architecture and more recent tenure as National Health Leader at dwp|suters.
Gilda’s experience has focused on the delivery of significant health and research projects such as the North Lakes Health Precinct, James Cook University’s Australian Institute Of Tropical Health and Medicine, and Gold Coast Private Hospital Stage 2. She has a strong background in architectural documentation control, consultant coordination, construction and project management, and a record of success in leading project teams from design through to Practical Completion. Gilda’s strong project management skills are supported by a keen appreciation for architectural design and an excellent knowledge of construction detailing and resolution.