Introducing the 2025 Jury for the ACT Architecture Awards
The Institute is excited to announce the Jurors for this years ACT Architecture Awards. The Awards recognise excellence and innovation in design and are conferred via a rigorous system of peer review.
Juries are comprised of industry peers and advocates appointed by the Institute’s ACT Chapter Awards Committee. In addition to submitting data and images online, each project entered for consideration in the ACT Architecture Awards is presented to a jury panel. We wish to thank appointed jury members for their dedication and hard work.
Shannon Battisson LFRAIA
Shannon Battisson is an architect with a great passion for people and place. She was the 2022/23 National President for the Australian Institute of Architects, and is a highly contributing member of the profession in Australia, and beyond. She is an experienced public advocate for the benefit of good design, and an accomplished public speaker. Shannon is a Life Fellow of the Australian Institute of Architects and an honorary Fellow of the American Institute of Architects and the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada.
Shannon is the Chair of the Institute’s charitable Foundation, and Chair of the Australian Construction Industry Forum. Shannon is director of architecture at Canberra based, multidisciplinary design studio The Mill.
As a leader, Shannon believes in the strength of our collective diversity of voice, experience, and stories. She hopes to inspire others to step up to the challenges of both culture and climate through the celebration of our stories and an embracing of shared human vulnerability.
As an architect, Shannon has developed a strong ethos of people centric design over 20 years of practice. Having studied at the University of New South Wales, and lived abroad, Shannon consciously settled in Canberra to establish her practice, The Mill, with business partner Sarah Welsh. Together, they are dedicated to working towards a world where all people have access to the essential elements of home (safety, comfort, and retreat) whilst ensuring all the spaces we live and work in are climate responsive, affordable and joyful spaces to be in.
NICHOLAS ECCLES Associate RAIA
As associate at Open Principle Architecture (OPA) and registered architect Nicholas is experienced in briefing, design, and delivery of architectural projects ranging from residential, commercial, institutional and heritage precincts. During his time at OPA he has also benefited from work study trips to multiple locations within Australia and USA. Nicholas studied architecture at University of Canberra and during this time was fortunate to study abroad to Japan on two separate occasions where he developed a unique understanding of architectural and urban analysis.
As a developing Architect Nicholas’s interests are formed in the exploration of natural systems, culture, processes, and construction to reveal a sophisticated architectural response which also includes elements of delight and humanity.
Nicholas enjoys the opportunities that exist to make meaningful and high-quality contributions within the realm of a full-service architectural practice. Having a fondness for first principles Nicholas also takes great joy in the physical construction of projects where the opportunity exists as site labour and believes the role of the architect extends well into the construction of a project.
Nicholas makes contributions to the practice of Architecture more broadly through teaching at the University of Canberra Design & Architecture faculty, Design studio panel reviews for undergraduate and post graduate submissions. He also enjoys making contributions through the position of ACT AIA chapter councillor.
Belinda Goh FRAIA
Belinda is a Senior Principal at global design firm Populous based in the Sydney studio. She has a particular interest in the creation of quality architecture that is responsive to the human experience and yet is challenged by all parameters the building environment presents.
With over two decades of experience in designing sport and entertainment infrastructure that draws people together, Belinda has helped deliver globally recognised projects, including the 60,000-seat Emirates Stadium for Arsenal FC, CommBank Stadium in Paramatta and the International Convention Centre in Sydney.
With experience in both Australia and the UK, she was a project leader in the design and delivery of the London 2012 Olympic Stadium, the London Olympic and Legacy Masterplan, and the London Olympic and Paralympic Overlay.
More recently, Belinda has led the design and delivery of various community and elite sports precinct developments, along with design leadership roles on several precinct feasibility studies and project brief developments for various entertainment and event precincts.
Belinda has a particular focus on smart equitable and universal design for sport and entertainment facilities, ensuring that we design for inclusively and develop welcoming infrastructure for everyone to enjoy.
SEAN HOGAN RAIA
Sean Hogan is a Canberra Architect and sole practitioner of Typology Architecture, with experience in single and multiple housing, community, master planning and place making projects. Sean has a wide range of experience from conceptual sketch design work, master planning, feasibility work, documentation and coordination, leading consultant teams through construction documentation phases, and contract administration. Sean is of Wonnarua descent.
Sean’s practice as an Architect is motivated by the desire to create beautiful spaces and environments for people. All land in Australia connects back to Indigenous history, narratives, and identity. Sean is passionately interested in integrating contemporary Australian architecture to its place and incorporating Indigenous knowledge and place making actions. Through this approach to work, he hopes to help people to connect with architecture, leading them to experience not only the quality of the building and its details, but also an appreciation of the conceptual thinking behind the surface of architecture, and its connectivity and responsiveness to the ancient landscape and narratives of which it sits.
Additionally, Sean is undertaking a research project through the University of Canberra which is charged with phenomena mapping of Canberra places to uncover the abstract structures responsible for place realization and place connectivity. This work explores potential architectural processes that respond to the intricate and often hidden, yet intuitively experienced character of place.
Mika Utzon Popov
Mika Utzon Popov is an Australian-Danish artist, working in a wide range of mediums, creating site specific sculptural installations, design and drawings. Utzon Popov graduated from the National Art School in Sydney and works with a number of international clients and architects for both private and public commissions. 2023 saw Utzon Popov return to the contemporary gallery scene with the large solo exhibition ‘Courage’ at Olsen Gallery Sydney. His most recent commission works include a large installation for a bronze integrated gate for the prize-winning building at ‘19 Waterloo St.’, the ‘Illuminate’ sculpture for Eco Outdoor in collaboration with UAP Company, and a recent floor installation for The Paul Ramsay Foundation with SJB Architects and Tappeti Handmade Rugs. Utzon Popov is currently living in Sydney, Australia.
