Celebrating International Women's Day 2023

Adele King - Principal, Auckland

What projects have you most enjoyed working on at Warren and Mahoney?

I’ve been fortunate to work on numerous enjoyable and varied projects at Warren and Mahoney, including Manukau Health Park, Alexandria Hospital and many others. This diverse range of projects has allowed us to form an approach to all of our healthcare work. Designing with people in mind, our Care sector shapes important outcomes for the community with architecture that is healing, empathetic, inclusive, dignified, sustainable, adaptive, and caring. As co-lead of our Care sector, what I enjoy the most about working in healthcare is not only looking after the health, safety and wellbeing of patients - but also ensuring that staff are listened to, cared for, and well looked after throughout the design process. Creating empathetic architecture that, at its core has an atmosphere of optimism, inclusivity, care, and hope with an attention to detail and maximum functionality, is something we take to heart.

Which female do you most admire (alive or dead)?

I’m fortunate to have had great role models in my life. My grandmother was a trailblazer for women, attending University in the 1930s in the UK during a time when a woman’s role was defined as domestic. She was a teacher (English and Domestic Sciences) and mother of 7, showing women really don’t have to choose. She encouraged us and helped us all achieve our goals whether academic or otherwise.

In architecture, I’d have to say Julia Morgan. She was the first woman to be admitted to the architecture programme at L'École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts in Paris and the first woman architect licensed in California. However, she was reticent around promoting herself as a female architect and strove for equality in the profession. Her quote, “architecture is a visual art, and the buildings speak for themselves” was previously on my business card.

What’s the best piece of career advice you have been given?

The best piece of advice I received is from a former boss quoting Caroline Myss “Always go with the choice that scares you most, because that’s the one that is going to help you grow”. Something that resonates throughout my career so far and relates to me as much now as it did as a graduate.

Rosie Wilson - Associate - Business Partner to the MD, Sydney

What do you enjoy most about working at Warren and Mahoney?

With the risk of sounding generic, definitely the people. Over the last six years, I have been lucky enough to work alongside incredibly talented and passionate people and have built lifelong friendships. I have not had a very generic or linear career path and that is credit to the leadership at Warren and Mahoney who have provided me with exposure to different learning opportunities and pathways that have not only built on my strengths but have also allowed the flexibility to move from the Auckland to the Sydney studio - something I don’t take for granted.

What projects have you most enjoyed working on at Warren and Mahoney?

I have been involved in a wide spectrum of projects and work-streams at Warren and Mahoney. I really enjoyed being involved with the procurement process for our CRM system through to the customisation, development and roll out of Salesforce. Developing a relationship with NZTE to help our business expansion in Australia and exploring market entry strategies has been exciting.

Which female do you most admire (alive or dead)?

Admire or obsessed with? … Phoebe Waller Bridge and Julia Louis-Drefus.

What’s the best piece of career advice you have been given?

Invest in relational intelligence in the workplace as it enhances the quality of your life and those around you - Esther Perell.

Vivien St George - Associate – Interiors, Wellington

What do you enjoy most about working at WAM?

The amazingly talented people and the awesome projects! I love that I’m always learning – there is so much that I don’t know and am eager to learn. The range of voices that are brought into each project – we keep both the creative and technical forums open to all, and I feel strongly that this is best for projects and best for people.

What projects have you most enjoyed working on at WAM?

I love bespoke interior fitouts. Getting right into the detail and seeing beautifully considered materials and junctions come to life on-site is wonderful. To me it feels like an entire work of art, made up of many functional components.

I have enjoyed being involved in several recent projects with mana whenua engagement. I have found that it has given these projects a real sense of depth and authenticity. It is also expanding my thinking as a Pākehā designer.

Which female do you most admire (alive or dead)?

My mum – she raised 3 strong females!

I am inspired by any woman who supports other women. This includes a past mentor of mine who pushed me, and she believed in me as a young and inexperienced graduate. And it includes my current colleagues, many of them female leaders who generously share their learnings and advice with me.

Of course, there are also many prominent (and sometimes controversial) female figures that I admire, such as Gloria Allred, an outspoken human rights lawyer who has been a weighty voice for women’s rights in the US.

What’s the best piece of career advice you have been given?

I’m not sure where I heard this, maybe it wasn’t advice given directly to me, but it was about always seeing the bigger picture. Each day there can be many decisions or challenges to wade through. I often try to visualise the end goal – it helps me to make each small decision and push for each small victory knowing that I have a vision that I am working toward. I apply this to projects which can be a long and complex journey, but recently I have started applying it to my life outside of work as well.

Megan Marks – Associate Principal, Melbourne

What do you enjoy most about working at Warren and Mahoney?

So far, the people. While I have only recently joined, there seems to be a real warmth between colleagues, lots of laughs and a really great team atmosphere.

What projects have you most enjoyed working on at Warren and Mahoney?

So far, I have mostly been working on bids and a competition entry. Typically, the projects that I love to work on are large scale public buildings and I enjoy getting into it and resolving technical issues with the wider consultant team, even the builders and subcontractors. The wonderful thing about architecture is that there is always something new to learn, and I am looking forward to working on new building typologies.

Which female do you most admire (alive or dead)?

One amazing female I admire is the ultramarathon runner Courtney Dauwalter. She won the 2017 race of the Moab 240 race (a 238 mile race), finishing first overall, and beating the second place finisher by more than 10 hours. She is a phenomenally impressive runner and has proven that, in extreme distance running women, can outperform men. I especially admire the passion she has for running, her relaxed approach to training, and the camaraderie she shares with her fellow competitors, exemplified by how she will stay by the finish line and cheer on the last finishers of the race.

What’s the best piece of career advice you have been given?

I had an amazing mentor early on in my career who taught me to appreciate that every drawing is an important contribution to the overall building design. We spent hours and days working through ceiling coordination and set outs, and I still notice the ceiling set out in most spaces that I walk into.

Biljana Pesun – Architect, Dunedin

What do you enjoy most about working at Warren and Mahoney?

I have been at Warren and Mahoney for almost a year now. What I have enjoyed most is a positive and encouraging working environment. I have enjoyed being surrounded by people who have had the patience and ability to share their knowledge, experience and support the team in progressing the projects forward.

What projects have you most enjoyed working on at Warren and Mahoney?

I am currently part of the New Dunedin Hospital (NDH) team. It has been great being a part of a team that communicates very openly and clearly and maintains a very collaborative culture. I have enjoyed being able to see the development and the progression of the project despite some of the challenging phases the project has had to go through. It has been great to see the team strive to deliver the best possible outcome while trying to mitigate consequences of the decisions that were crucial for the project to move forward.

Which female do you most admire (alive or dead)?

This would be my grandmother Julijana in any aspect, and Odile Decq from the architectural realm.

My grandmother studied architecture, however never practised as an architect herself. She, instead, was a stay-at-home mother and later a stay-at-home grandmother enabling the professional progression of my grandfather and her children. She is an incredibly important figure in my life. During the 1990s, when Croatia went through a difficult period of trying to establish itself as a sovereign country, my grandmother left everything behind so that she could take me to a neighbouring country where we spent about a year until it was safe for us to come back home.

Odile Decq is a French architect who experiments with architecture in so many ways with incredible courage. Her work ranges from sculpture to architecture and urban design and is always relevant and specific as opposed to uniformity.

What’s the best piece of career advice you have been given?

Be curious. Ask questions. Support other people like you would like to have been supported. Trust your instincts.

Larissa Stevenson – Technician, Auckland

What do you enjoy most about working at Warren and Mahoney?

I enjoy working with such talented and intelligent people, the push to be more creative and think outside the box (the philosophical chats in the lunchroom always help).

What projects have you most enjoyed working on at Warren and Mahoney?

I’ve been fortunate to have contributed to a few projects, one of those being Site 6 in Wynyard Quarter and it will be interesting to see how this takes shape over the coming years.

Which female do you most admire (alive or dead)?

I would like to share the following things I admire about my Mum:

• I admire the way you encouraged me and the way you styled your clothes.
• I admire the way you travelled the world and were so courageous, it showed.
• I admire your big smart intelligent self and the way you were so kind.
• I admire you so much it makes me sick, it even makes me rhyme.
• I admire the way you were always so positive, I admire the way you taught.
• I admired your bravery when battling leukaemia and now you’re always in my thoughts.
• I admire you when you dared to be different and the fact you were always comical.
• But mostly I like the way I will never not admire you. Not even once. Not even a little bit. Not even at all.

What’s the best piece of career advice you have been given?

To list a few… Success is not linear. Dream big and aim high. There’s no such thing as a stupid question. Everyone makes mistakes, it’s what you learn from them that really counts. Put yourself forward for every possible opportunity as you don’t know where it could lead.

Becky Buxton-Hope - Intermediate Technician – Architecture, Christchurch

What do you enjoy most about working at Warren and Mahoney?

What I enjoy the most about working at Warren and Mahoney is the flexibility, mutual trust and respect. I have just recently returned from parental leave and so needed some flexibility. Warren and Mahoney allowed me to have that knowing that I work hard in return which I really appreciate.

What projects have you most enjoyed working on at Warren and Mahoney?

They have all brought different pros and cons. I work in healthcare so each project is somewhat similar. The more I do though, the more I enjoy as I feel my skills are developing and it is nice being able to put these skills to use.

What’s the best piece of career advice you have been given?

That it’s okay to admit if you are feeling stressed or burnt out. You need to look after yourself first and foremost in order to excel in any career.