New WA Branch President Kukame McPierzie
The ACA is delighted to announce the appointment of new WA Branch President Kukame McPierzie, who shares his first message for 2021.
Kukame McPierzie has been elected to the role of WA Branch President, taking over from Malcolm Jones who is retiring after many years of service to the ACA. Kukame is the Perth Studio Chair at Woods Bagot, a role that combines business strategy, team leadership and design. He has worked in senior roles for medium and large-scale practices and has established a strong network amongst design professionals and government in Western Australia. He won the 2019 Western Australian Emerging Architect Prize for his contribution to numerous ‘city-changing’ projects.
Message from Kukame McPierzie
It is a great privilege to be your new ACA President in Western Australia.
Across WA, there seems to be a quiet sense of optimism among our members as the post-COVID economic recovery builds momentum. There will undoubtedly be future challenges to overcome, both as a society and as a profession, but I am encouraged by the resilience shown by architectural practices in WA. Our membership base is broad, ranging from sole practitioners to large practices, and despite the uncertainty of 2020, we saw membership increase as architectural businesses turned to the ACA as a vital source of advice, information and resources.
We know that architects play a critical role in shaping the built environment through good design and sustainable practices. As President, a key priority of mine will be to proactively engage with our members, industry and government. We will listen to the issues, advocate for better policy and business conditions, and continue to provide relevant support and resources for architectural practices in Western Australia.
The ACA is an agile organisation that relies on input from our members. Thank you to all those who recently completed our WA Member Survey, the outcomes of which will help shape our priorities for the year ahead. We have several events planned in coming months, covering issues such as the impact of the Design WA Planning Policy, Architects Mental Wellbeing as well as our ever-popular Annual Breakfast and Business of Small Practice Series. Stay tuned for these.
In 2021 we welcome Felice Burrows and Michel Greenhalgh to the ACA WA Committee. Michel is based in Bunbury and provides valuable regional insight and perspective. Kate Fitzgerald steps into the role of Vice-President, Kali Passmore is Secretary and Janine Marsh continues her role as Treasurer. Along with representatives Andrew Rogerson, David Gulland and Emily van Eyk, we have a Committee that is well balanced, energetic and highly capable. We welcome feedback from members at any time, so please get in touch.
Lastly, I would like to thank my predecessor, Malcolm Jones, for his tireless dedication and commitment to the role. For many years Malcolm has provided great wisdom, judgement and leadership for the ACA in Western Australia and our profession is better for it.