The Australian Institute of Architects has announced Hugh Tennent and Ewan Brown as keynote speakers for the 2025 Australian Architecture Conference, set to take place this May in Sydney.
The esteemed Pōneke Wellington architects were honoured last night with the 2024 Gold Medal by Te Kāhui Whaihanga New Zealand Institute of Architects — the nation’s highest accolade for outstanding contributions to architecture. The duo was awarded during a ceremony held at Ngā Mokopuna, a project delivered by Tennent + Brown Architects.
Tennent and Brown are lauded for their “radical sustainability” and exploration of “bicultural collaboration”. “Hugh Tennent and Ewan Brown have dared to journey along paths more commonly avoided, extending themselves beyond the perimeters of conventional observation and understanding that typically inform the architectural response,” cited the jury.
Renowned for their bold, boundary-pushing approach and global perspective, Tennent and Brown are well-positioned to engage with this year’s conference theme: Architecture in Action.
Tickets are on sale now for the Conference where the Te Kāhui Whaihanga New Zealand Institute of Architects 2024 Gold Medallist keynote address will occur on Day 2. Tennent and Brown will join an already distinguished lineup of speakers such as Brussels-based Dieter Leyssen and Harold Vermeiren of 51N4E, New York’s Jing Liu of SO – IL, and Andreia Teixeira of SHoP Architects.
“Architecture plays a critical role in shaping identities, building communities and meeting the urgent demands of both the present and our collective futures,” said the 2025 Conference Steering Committee.
“The 2025 Australian Architecture Conference brings together speakers from around Australia and abroad to share stories of Architecture in Action, stories that demonstrate the capacity of design to instigate positive change, regenerate the planet and chart a sustainable and equitable future for humanity.”
Hugh Tennent and Ewan Brown formed their eponymous studio, Tennent Brown Architects, in 2003. Over the past 22 years, their Pōneke Wellington practice has become known for its values-based architecture, including large, complex projects in the housing, education and commercial sectors. In 2018, the practice became a founding member of The Diversity Agenda and was the first in Aotearoa to obtain a JUST label for Social Justice. In 2022, it became the first practice in Aotearoa to achieve B-Corp Certification.
