Brendan Williamson

I’ve recently completed my Bachelor of Building Design (Architecture), where I deepened my understanding of the conceptual and relational dimensions of architecture. Throughout my studies, I explored how spatial relationships, circulation, and program interplay shape meaningful user experiences. This academic journey strengthened my ability to think critically about design intent — how form, function, and context work together to create cohesive architectural outcomes. Combined with my industry experience as a Building Design Draftsman, it’s given me a balanced perspective between creative exploration and practical delivery.

Having over five years of drafting experience working across a broad range of architectural projects. My background includes collaborating closely with consultants and co-leading projects, where I’ve been relied upon for planning advice, design input, and construction knowledge. Over the years, I’ve contributed to a variety of sectors from car dealerships and medical centers to childcare facilities and even the ICU pond for Zoos Victoria and have also been involved in custom residential homes, multi-unit developments, and smaller extensions, giving me a well-rounded understanding of different project scales.

Now with all my experience I am wanting to move into the world of architecture and broaden my knowledge and skills further.

Studio 5: NeX Museum

Located in Newport, Nex Museum is a collaborative learning and exhibition space celebrating the exchange of ideas between high school, TAFE, and university sectors. The project encourages dialogue across educational pathways, where students share knowledge, explore creative processes, and collaborate through a collective architectural journey.

Studio 5: NeX Museum

The materials used for the museum respect Newport’s industrial heritage while introducing modern transparency. A balance of opaque brick and translucent polycarbonate minimises intrusion on the surrounding community, allowing lightness and connection while maintaining privacy and continuity with the site’s historic fabric.

BIM: AMDC RetroFit

Through collaborative BIM workflows, our team managed a highly detailed project that explored digital coordination and real-time model sharing. Using Revit, we produced precise façade construction details, ensuring consistency between design intent and documentation while enhancing communication across disciplines throughout the retrofit process.

BIM: AMDC RetroFit

As BIM Lead, I coordinated multiple Revit links and managed collaborative workflows across the team. This allowed us to develop comprehensive floor plans and a highly detailed LOD 3 model, ensuring accuracy, consistency, and clear communication throughout the retrofit process.

Studio 3 - Residential Housing RetroFit

As part of Studio 3, we began with a precedent study, digitally recreating the Kunsthaus Graz through Grasshopper to explore parametric techniques. This became the direction we took into our residential retrofit, focusing on creating community interaction through a local market and interconnected workshops for residents.

Acknowledgement of Country

The School of Design and Architecture respectfully acknowledges the Wurundjeri peoples of the Kulin Nation as the Traditional Owners and knowledge-keepers of the lands, waters and sky that surround us, where we work, learn, create, communicate and make place. We recognise that sovereignty has never been ceded and this always was and will always be Wurundjeri Country. We pay our respects to Elders past, present and to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people who continue to make a better world through design.

We extend our acknowledgement to the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander staff, students, alumni, real-life clients, and knowledge keepers, who have contributed to our own education diversity and growth. We will continue to ensure that staff and students respectfully honour ancestral connection to Country and Place in everything that they do.

We are dedicated to the notion of design to make a better world and we acknowledge that making tools, shaping place, sharing stories, making meaning, wayfinding and collaborating have long been and continue to be both central and integral to First Peoples' cultures. We recognize that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples’ cultural contributions have continued relevance to design practice and commit to: reconciling ancestries of design and contemporary practice as well as pursuing culturally and professionally appropriate ways to engage with a diverse population of colleagues, industries and clients. In a time of treaty-making and voice we understand that there are overlaps between caring for Country and the sustainable production of goods, services, experiences, products and buildings.

Guided by the principles of respect, reconciliation, and reciprocity we undertake to indigenising and decolonising design practice by dismantling colonial structures and challenging biases that have marginalised Indigenous voices and design.

As students of SoDA you will be given opportunities to both engage with and educate yourself in Indigenous creative practices and cultural protocols through a lens of inclusivity, diversity, respect, mutual understanding, inter-cultural dialogue in all aspects of design practice. Indigenous people have been telling stories, making tools, and connecting to Country through visual media, placemaking and place marking for more than 60,000 years and these practices are part of an ongoing, evolving and live tradition.