Housing on the Edge: A New Reference Design for the Future Australian Suburb

Australia’s greenfield suburbs face mounting pressure: car dependency, housing uniformity, and delayed or inadequate social and physical infrastructure. This panel shares preliminary design directions from a new interdisciplinary research program tackling these challenges head-on. Bringing together social science, urban design, architecture and landscape architecture expertise, the discussion will explore early concepts shaping a new Reference Design for the next generation of Australian suburbs, and invite dialogue on how integrated, design-led approaches can drive meaningful suburban transformation at scale.

Moderator
Dr Ben Milbourne is a Senior Lecturer in the School of Architecture and Urban Design. Ben’s research focuses on utilising the intersection of design based and traditional research methods to address pressing problems in the built environment, including housing affordability, decarbonisation and climate resilience. He is a registered architect with over 20 years of experience in design practice and currently leads RMIT School or Architecture’s internationally recognised Design Practice Research PhD model.

Panellists
Claire Scorpo is a Lecturer at RMIT School of Architecture and Urban Design, Director at Agius Scorpo Architects, and a recipient of the 2023 Victorian Institute of Architects Emerging Architect Award. She is also a PhD candidate whose research investigates how housing quality can be strengthened through policy reform and design-led innovation, with a particular focus on redefining comfort within suburban contexts.

Jocelyn Chiew FRAIA FRLA is the Founder and Director of Place Assembly. She is a registered architect, registered landscape architect, urban strategist, educator and adviser with more than 20 years’ experience shaping cities, campuses and precincts in Australia. Jocelyn has led the strategic planning of major civic, campus and urban renewal projects for institutional and government clients. Jocelyn serves on the Victorian and New South Wales State Design Review Panels and is a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Architects and the Australian Institute of Landscape Architects.

Professor Karien Dekker works at RMIT University in the School of Property, Construction and Project Management. She currently works on an AHURI funded project, looking at collaborative housing solutions in Australia. She writes about social infrastructure and affordable housing in diverse communities. Karien’s life revolves around a greater desire to create inclusive communities in which everyone feels welcome. She is also passionate about affordable housing for all. To inform policy and public opinion, she interprets large datasets, while making sense of the findings with interviews and observations.