Celebrating International Women's Day

Fabiana Almeida, Associate/Studio BIM Lead, Sydney

Which female do you most admire?

I am lucky to have had extraordinary role models throughout my life and career. My mother is one of the most determined, generous and resilient people I know. In architecture, I look up to Lina Bo Bardi. Her Sao Paulo Museum of Art was one of the first buildings I fell in love with.

What advice would you give to our graduates/junior staff starting out in their careers?

Try to get involved in as many project stages as you can. Architecture is a broad field, and you will probably end up specialising in something that suits your talents and aspirations and makes you happy. However, having a good understanding of the whole picture will make a huge difference. So don’t be afraid of getting out of your comfort zone, be curious, ask questions and experiment!

What do you enjoy most about working at W+M?

Being able to collaborate and contribute with my skillsets while benefiting from the expertise of so many excellent professionals across all offices in Australia and New Zealand is invaluable.

What project have you most enjoyed working on?

It’s hard to pick a favourite. Instead, I have favourite aspects from all the projects on which I have worked. At the moment, I’m particularly enjoy contributing to the complex elements of the BIM strategy as part of the Advanced BIM Team for an exciting new project in Sydney’s Pyrmont.

Ilona Haghshenas, Principal, Auckland

Which female do you most admire?

Growing up in Tehran, Iran we had a nanny who helped raise me and my sister as my mother worked. She carried on as housekeeper when we were older and spent 22 years with us. She was a little old Kurdish woman who lived in a village in the north of Tehran. Her name was “Talla” which in Farsi means gold. Early in her arranged marriage, Talla had kicked out her drug addict husband much to the horror of her family. She worked all her life to raise her three children. Her only son suffered from severe Cerebral Palsy. She was his sole carer and used to carry him on her back down the steps from her house, sometimes in the snow. She worked hard and smiled all the way. I admire her as she believed she could do anything and never let anyone or anything stop her. In her unassuming way, she was a true role model. She passed away years ago, but I think of her often.

What advice would you give to our graduates/junior staff starting out in their careers?

Three main things I can think of:

• Be brave and take chances. If you don’t you will wonder “what if?”.
• Give every task the time and attention it needs. Put the effort in and it will pay dividends. My father often said, “If something needs five minutes hard work, you can’t do it in four”. He was right.
• Surround yourself with people who will support you and encourage you along the way. We all need help at some point.

What do you enjoy most about working at W+M?

Having studied and started my career in Iran, at W+M I am where I never thought I would be, and I love every minute of it. I am in the company of an extremely talented group of people who inspire me every day. Working at W+M allows me to push boundaries, stretch my abilities and ultimately create great architecture. It challenges me and allows me to learn something new every day. I work with my friends and people I truly respect, what’s not to enjoy?

What project have you most enjoyed working on?

I have spent almost all my time at W+M working on the same project, The New Zealand International Convention Centre, where I lead the team. The project has had its fair share of challenges, but I still enjoy working on it. I believe it is going to be an exceptional building.

Rebecca Burton, Associate Principal, Interior Design, Wellington

Which female do you most admire?

This is a hard one! There are so many incredible women, past and present, and I admire many women both in my life, in NZ and around the world. There are too many to list them all, but I am always most inspired by;

• those who have overcome extreme adversity and still approach life with bravery, positivity and exuberance (Malala Yousafzai, Sophie Pascoe, Marama Davidson);
• those who have total and unequivocal belief in themselves, their convictions and the value of their contribution to their field (Soke Hoshu (Ai) Ikeda, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Joycelyn Elders, Jacinda Ardern);
• and those courageous women who make a difference by devoting themselves with steely grit to the greater good, even when it is at great risk to themselves (Marie Colvin, Harriet Tubman, Nadia Murad).

What advice would you give to our graduates/junior staff starting out in their careers?

One of the best pieces of advice I was given way back in the beginning was "back yourself, say what you are thinking, if you think it's right - it probably is!".

Also, there is no such thing as a silly question. Make the most of the opportunity to learn when you are in the company of those who may well have the answers you need.

What do you enjoy most about working at W+M?

Well, I haven't been here for long, but I can say that the people, the energy and the camaraderie I have experienced so far has been uplifting! I love that W+M is clearly a practice that celebrates diversity in all its forms, providing an enriched experience for everyone. I’m feeling really excited to be part of the W+M team and looking forward to working on some great projects with some incredible talent in Wellington and across studios!

What project have you most enjoyed working on?

Typically, the projects I love to work on are long term, large scale, complex commercial fitouts. I love the complex and wide-reaching team dynamics that build on large projects as we make the journey through from inception to completion, and the ownership and accrued knowledge that also build up along the way. In saying that, I also love punchy, fast, exciting design projects and the inevitable infectious energy they generate!

Tessa Lloyd-Hagemann, Intermediate Technician, Auckland

Which female do you most admire?

I admire (and am grateful for!) the women who carved paths beyond what was ‘acceptable’ for women and laid the groundwork for me to take the strange and varied career path I’ve loved so far. Amelia Earhart, Kate Sheppard and my mother-in-law are pretty strong contenders in this category!

What advice would you give to our graduates/junior staff starting out in their careers?

When you’re brand new, my thought is that you’ve been employed to learn. Be aware of the limitations of your skills and experience, own your mistakes (everyone makes them!), and learn everything you can from every opportunity.

What do you enjoy most about working at W+M?

The challenge! Also, the people. So many lovely, driven, creative, encouraging people in one place.

What project have you most enjoyed working on?

It has to be Commercial Bay – my first ever project as a technician and what a place to start!

Shana Payne, Architect, Queenstown

Which female do you most admire?

How can you choose just one?! I will answer both. The female who I most admire, often find I resonant with her words and gain inspiration from, is Maya Angelou.

"My mission in life is not merely to survive, but to thrive; and to do so with some passion, some compassion, some humor, and some style.”

“I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”

As my first thought went to “which female architect?”, I’ll also share one whom I’ve met. Little did I know shadowing an architect as part of my high school experience would leave such an imprint on my career.

I met Sarah Susanka who had just started a firm after finishing her thesis on the basic philosophy of quality over quantity, or "build better, not bigger." Her philosophy struck a chord with me. If you haven’t read Susanka's first book, The Not So Big House. I recommend it.

What advice would you give to our graduates/junior staff starting out in their careers?

"Do the best you can until you know better. Then when you know better, do better." – Maja Angelo

What do you enjoy most about working at W+M?

He tangata, he tangata, he tangata
It is the people, it is the people, it is the people

Over my 7 years with W+M the more people I meet or work with, the more amazed I am by the incredible talent we have within and outside of design across NZ and Aus.

I’ve recently enjoyed the opportunities where our individuality is expressed or shared; with the lockdown sketch series, the Connecting with Woman in W+M, and the adventurist stories.

What project have you most enjoyed working on?

The most enjoyable, rewarding moments are sometimes the most challenging. I’ve really enjoyed the handful of renovations I’ve worked on, two of which include the Cardrona masterplan/ base build and

the Coppage Alteration in Wanaka (a Mason and Wales orig.) which had a focus on improving quality and function of spaces as well as choregraphing their artwork collection and garden views. Renovations of existing builds require creative solutions and have the greatest environmental impact.

Shevon De Alwis, Business Development Advisor, Melbourne

Which female do you most admire?

Obviously Beyoncé - she's an absolute powerhouse and definition of independence. Listening to her music gives me instant confidence, honestly, what a Queen!

What advice would you give to our graduates/junior staff starting out in their careers?

I'd say be open to any and every opportunity that comes your way, you never know where it might take you. My pathway would look like a scribble, but it's been so enjoyable. I've grown so much as a person both personally and professionally, and I've met such great friends along the way.

What do you enjoy most about working at W+M?

This is going to sound so cliche, but it's definitely the people. I've worked in offices where there's been over 100 people, and when I started last year, we were 25 in Melbourne. It was so nice to share in both work and personal goals. We've now grown to nearly 50 and the culture remains the same. We do refer to our team as the 'wamfam', and you do really get the sense that we're family. You know you like your colleagues when you want to see them outside of work too.

What project have you most enjoyed working on?

I primarily work on bids. There's been a few in the last year that I literally poured my heart and soul into and they ended up being absolutely amazing and the team dynamic in making it happen was so enjoyable. It's nice to be surrounded by creative people who have no shame in challenging you to be better, and often the outcome is better than it was at the beginning.

Hannah Reilly, People and Culture Business Partner, Christchurch

Which female do you most admire?

My grandmother, Valerie Gilchrist. Some words to describe Val:

Artist

Librarian

Pianist

Activist

Conservationist

Liberal

Lover of language and culture

Lifelong learner

Macaroni master

Matriarch

Needless to say, a very special woman whom I have the deepest admiration for.

What advice would you give to our graduates/junior staff starting out in their careers?

The first thing that came to mind was an Adam Grant quote I like and have found to be true that “the most meaningful way to succeed is to help others succeed”.

There have also been a number of instances, particularly over the past couple of years, where I’ve been forced to be flexible in my plans, or in some instances completely reroute. For example, after coming back to New Zealand from Canada for what was meant to be a 2-week holiday and then never returning due to COVID. Sliding door moments if you will. A few valuable lessons I took from this was:

• It’s great to have long term goals, but if you’re too rigid on your path to achieving them you may miss out on unexpected opportunities along the way.
• Sometimes there is no right or wrong decision, you just have to make one and go with it.
• There is no shame in moving back in with mum while you’re rerouting.

What do you enjoy most about working at W+M?

Being from Ōtautahi, I have a lot of memories attached to W+M buildings and I feel a sense of pride being part of the team that helped shape this city, both pre- and post-earthquake.

It is a bit cliche, but I really do enjoy the people at W+M. There are a lot of good sorts and it’s inspiring to work alongside creative and passionate people who are doing their best to make the world a better place.

I also really appreciate W+M’s commitment to supporting parents / carers. We put in place some additional benefits recently and as someone who will be going on parental leave this year it means a lot to know that the practice is doing what it can to support people to balance being a caregiver and having a career.

What project have you most enjoyed working on?

I’m fortunate to be part of a team who has a shared passion in a number of areas including diversity and inclusion, health and wellbeing, training and development and employee engagement. I’m thankful that alongside providing day-to-day support to the South Island and Australian studios I’m able to work on projects that feed into these areas.