As you may recall I left Fort Street half way through sixth class
because our family moved from Neutral Bay to Oatley. After primary
school I attended Sydney Boys High School. From 1959 1963 I studied
architecture at Sydney University where I was awarded the University
Medal. On the strength of this I won a scholarship to do a Master of
Architecture degree at Yale University (1965 1966). After this I spent
some time working in London at Arup Associates.
I returned to Australia in 1967 working in the Government
Architects office of the NSW Public Works Department. Ross Bonthorne
was also there at this time. I had the opportunity to design a number
of significant public buildings including major additions to the Art
Gallery of NSW, NSW Parliament House, State Library of NSW, Riverside
Theatres Parramatta and Ryde College of Catering and Hotel
Administration to mention a few. I also managed the programme of works
for the 1988 Bicentenary including the improvements to Circular Quay
and the Sydney Opera House forecourt. In 1983 I was awarded OA for
services to architecture.
In 1988 I was appointment to the position of NSW Government Architects but decided to join the private sector instead.
In 1989 I became a Director of Peddle Thorp & Walker (now PTW
Architects). Since that time I have been involved with a wide range of
projects, commercial, residential and buildings for the arts. These
include the Angel Place development in the city including the City
Recital Hall, the Walsh Bay redevelopment with Sydney Theatre. The Art
Gallery of South Australia, Museum of Contemporary Art in Sydney and
the notorious development at East Circular Quay.
Current projects include an addition to the National Gallery of Australia in Canberra.
In 1972 I married Sara Bennett a film editor (later head of
post-production at The National Film and Television School). We have
two grown up daughters, an architect and a lawyer.
In recent years I have been spending time in Latvia which regained
independence in 1991. A number of city properties, built by my
grandfather were returned to the family in 1992 having been
nationalized during the Soviet takeover in 1940. The process of
restoration and adaptive re-use has proven challenging but satisfying.
