Talking Architecture & Design

Lisa Munao, Managing Director and Principal of Gensler’s Sydney office leads the strategic growth and operations of the firm across Australia and New Zealand. 
 With over 25 years of experience in the design industry, Lisa has guided major interior and workplace projects for global and local organisations and brings a passion for creative thinking, collaborative problem-solving, and sustainable design to everything she does. 
In this conversation she describes how design thinking shapes the future of work, community, and the built environment.

We talk with architects and founders of Taylor Buchtmann Architecture, Anne Taylor, and Michael Buchtmann, who are also the winners of the 2025 Sustainability Award in the Adaptive Reuse – Alteration/Addition category about their extraordinary award-winning project, The Stopover. 
This remarkable build transformed a dilapidated grain store into resilient, sensitive accommodation that honours both place and purpose. 
We dive in and hear from the two amazing minds behind this inspiring work.

With a background in architecture and interior design, emerging leader in sustainable design and the Green Star Program Lead at the Green Building Council of Australia, Gabrielle Pavicic is helping reshape how the built environment approaches sustainability — particularly at the fitout level, where waste and embodied carbon have long been overlooked. 
Her work bridges design thinking with technical delivery, driving measurable change across buildings and infrastructure. 
She’s also the winner of the Emerging Sustainable Architect/Designer category at the 2025 Sustainability Awards, hosted by Architecture & Design.
In this interview, she explores her journey, insights, and what’s next for a more regenerative built environment.
Brought to you in association with Autex Acoustics, Proud Carbon Neutral Partners of the 2025 Sustainability Awards.

Known for his thoughtful, context-driven approach to design, acclaimed Australian architect Ed Lippmann, owner and founder of architectural practice, Lippmann Partnership, has a design portfolio that spans decades of civic buildings, cultural spaces, religious buildings, educational projects, and private residences that have helped define parts of Australia’s, as well as his own architectural identity. 
Ed Lippmann is a very busy man – he is also an author and in his new book, 40 Years of Architecture, he captures this extraordinary journey with surprising warmth and candour, offering insights not only into his many projects but also into the evolution of architecture in Australia over the past four decades.

Across more than three decades, UNSW Professor Deo Prasad has shaped the national and global conversation on low carbon living through research, education, policy leadership, and industry collaboration. 
From pioneering sustainability education in the southern hemisphere to leading Australia’s largest built-environment research collaboration through the CRC for Low Carbon Living, his impact spans academia, government, industry, and generations of practitioners worldwide.
He talks about his life's work so far, the value of teaching, the importance of building partnerships and how improving sustainability in the built environment is for the benefit of humanity as a whole.