Senaya de silva

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Over the past three years as a graduate architecture student at Swinburne University, I have been deeply inspired by the process of designing spaces that are not only aesthetically pleasing but also meaningful and functional. To me, architecture goes beyond just beauty; it’s about creating environments that have purpose, impact, and respond to the needs of those who interact with them.

My design approach focuses on creating spaces that are comfortable, accessible, and attractive to the public. Sustainability plays a crucial role in my work, as I strive to ensure that my designs are environmentally conscious and contribute positively to the surrounding context.

Additionally, I have a passion for graphic design and enjoy using it as a tool to enhance my architectural work. I aim to create visuals that are both engaging and easy to understand, effectively communicating my design concepts to clients and other stakeholders.

AMDC Collaborative Hub

The AMDC renovation is designed for architecture, design students, faculty, staff, and protolab users, creating a space that supports learning and collaboration.
The redesigned façade aims to improve thermal performance and reduces energy use.
Daylight is optimized for bright, comfortable interiors, while sustainable materials ensure durability.
The façade also strengthens connections between inside and outside, promoting openness and engagement.

In Collaboration with Oscar Jonas, Sharonne Berenstein, Alyssa Calderone

Meridian

Nestled between Flinders street and The Yarra River The Meridian is a hybrid project focused around
entertainment relating to existing features and amenity of the local context, across the Yarra we find
the energetic tourist hub of Southbank with great walkable connections to and through our site.
Through careful landscaping efforts we aim to restore the bank of the Yarra, allowing it to contribute to the
project, inviting the tidal waters into the site and attempting a long gone relationship with the ancient river.
The amphitheatre will act as a central gathering space and the core of our hybrid program, adding a cultural
hub that will invigorate further investment in the area and will solidify itself as a crucial gateway between
Melbournes CBD and the Docklands

In Collaboration with Oscar Jonas, Bella Monk

Meridian

The Coda

Rising beside Newport’s historic substation, The Coda bridges the city’s industrial past and its present.
Brick façades honor the heritage context, while Corten steel panels age like the trains that shaped the city. Steel frames trace the geometry of railway lines, linking structure, motion, and memory.
Designed for everyone — students, families, art and history enthusiasts, and the local community — the museum balances movement and pause. Train history galleries, art exhibitions, workshops, a market, and communal spaces create opportunities to explore, gather, and connect.
The site’s energy — from the railway station to the oval grounds — informs circulation, light, and acoustics.
The Coda is a moment in motion — a place where history, place, and people converge, resonating with Newport’s ongoing story.

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.