Shelley Penn, the proprietor of Shelley Penn Architect, works in Melbourne as both an architect and as a strategic advisor on large projects.

She spoke to WILLIAMS MEDIA about the powerful career advice given to her by a retired psychologist 18 years ago, and about the common theme of Australian architecture, "the connection of interior to exterior".

What do you enjoy most about your profession?

The diversity of the work I do, and people I get to work with, and the feeling that I'm making a positive contribution to people’s lives through improving the built environment.

As an architect in my own practice, I work with all sorts of different people on any one project, and I am not bound to a desk. I also work a great deal as a strategic advisor, with both government and private sector organisations, where I assist with the design quality aspects of major projects and programs of work to help ensure they make an excellent contribution to the public environment. Also I’m a director of a number of organisations.

So for me the work is even more mixed in nature and that also means I am constantly learning, which is what living is all about, for me.

Related content: One of Melbourne’s most exceptional heritage warehouse conversions

You have been involved in many urban advisory review panels in both government and private sector areas in Victoria, NSW and South Australia. How have you influenced architecture in these areas?

The work is usually focussed on design review, and also evaluation of the design quality of proposals. When the review process works well, it involves identifying strengths or the threads of powerful ideas in a design proposal, and helping to draw these out and strengthen them through questions and commentary. That relates to conceptual thinking, architectural, landscape and urban form, expression and detail but it is also always about addressing all the aspects that together make up good design. That includes functionality, sustainability, fitness for purpose and budget, responsiveness to context, heritage and community needs, and so on.

With your interest and passion for the built environment, what common thread in urban design do you see as important in our Australian cities over the next decade?

I think there is a much better understanding [today] that architecture, landscape architecture and urban design are all part of a continuum and that it is no longer okay to design a building as an object which does not relate to and enrich its environment, for people. Also that good design is relevant and critical at all scales - however humble the project, it will impact on peoples’ lives and it is therefore important to do it well.

Australia is a unique, huge and diverse country. The different cities and landscapes demand different responses, but I think (and hope) we’re getting better at designing solutions that are authentic and responsive to place, culture, society and environment - at least in many public places.

We're not there yet - there are plenty of awful things being built - but I do think the awareness has grown. In physical terms, the connection of interior to exterior, which has been talked about for years as an ‘Australian’ obsession, is still a strong thread and is played out differently in different parts of the country, according to context.

What has been your toughest or most interesting brief?

I’m working on it right now… it's confidential though!

Did you accept the project?

Yes, although a bit scary due to scale, scope and a very short timeframe, the scales and scope to make a really significant impact on an important city is also what is exciting and compelling about it.

What is your favourite project to date?

In relation to projects designed and delivered by me as a practicing architect, my favourite is probably a tiny warehouse conversion I did in Richmond almost 20 years ago. It involved working with a beautiful, very small brick building which had been part of a much larger complex. The budget was tiny, but I was very proud of the outcome which resulted (as all good projects do) from working with an outstanding client and wonderful, innovative builder. The design was a very simple solution that drew on the existing building - its heritage - but offered something radically new, in dialogue with the old structure.

Also my own house is a favourite because it is home, but it is taking me a few years to complete…..

I'm also proud of many public projects where I haven’t designed the solutions but have helped to champion the quality of the outcome as an advisor to the client. I have huge respect for my professional peers and am very, very happy to be able to support great work being done by others. 

Since graduating in 1988 you have been tutoring, teaching and mentoring architecture students and hold appointments at universities including Monash, University of Melbourne and RMIT. What advice would you give to a new graduate of architecture?

Be ambitious with your ideas and work hard, with tenacity and self-honesty, to resolve and see them through in detail. Accept and embrace self-doubt and the value of reflection, but don't let those moments stop you from thinking positively and jumping at opportunities.

And, from a retired vocational psychologist who very generously gave me this excellent advice on a chance meeting on a flight to Sydney 18 years ago: "Take your work seriously but don’t take yourself seriously, and test the alternatives."

Where do you live now, and where would you live if you could live anywhere in the world?

I live in South Williamstown, and if i could live anywhere at all, it would be right here.

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Get to know Peter McIntyre, 70 years as an architect and still at the drawing board

Get to know Lisa Merkesteyn, architect at Carter Williamson

Get to know architect Maggie Edmond of Edmond and Corrigan