Sarah Parker

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I approach design as an opportunity to create spaces that resonate with their surrounding environment through the use of materiality and form. I believe that interior architecture should emerge from its surroundings, drawing inspiration from local heritage, natural elements, and the landscape, rather than imposing upon it. By reflecting the unique characteristics of each site, I aim to create interiors which are not only contextually grounded but also welcoming and comfortable for those who experience them.

Lumiere Retreat for Renewing Wellness

Exterior facade reflecting the surrounding foreshore

Lumiere Retreat for Renewing Wellness

Pool area providing those needing physical rehabilitation with aquatic therapy and a range of different therapeutic activities

Museum of the Handmade

Cafe design creates a warm and inviting atmosphere for visitors to enjoy

Constant's Gallery

Gallery space featuring Constant Nieuwenhuys artworks and sculptures, this interior aims to reflect this artist industrial aesthetic of his sculptures and colour scheme within his art pieces.

Women's Refuge

The purpose of this design is to create a space where women and children escaping domestic violence can improve their emotional well-being and gain support. This interior provides occupants with a therapeutic space to perform art therapy within.

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.