The Queen’s Birthday 2022 Honours have been announced and it includes eight architects among the 992 Australians recognized for “meritorious, distinguished and conspicuous services.”
They include Kerstin Thompson, principal at Kerstin Thompson Architects; Phyllis Murphy, who practiced in Melbourne from 1949 until her retirement in the early 1980s; public administrator and architect Joseph Lewit; husband-and-wife duo Garry and Susan Rothwell; Hassell principal and board director Peter Lee; and project architect Donald Mason.
The following architects were appointed a Member of the Order (AM):
Kerstin Thompson, VIC
For significant service to architecture, and to tertiary education. Thompson has been a principal at her practice since 1994 and was made a Life Fellow of the Australian Institute of Architects in 2017. Most recently, in 2021 she received the Victorian Premiers Design Award for her renovation of the Broadmeadows Town Hall, and the Victorian Architecture Medal for the same project in 2020. She is adjunct professor at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology and Monash University, and has been a professor of design at Victoria University in Wellington, New Zealand.
Broadmeadows Town Hall.
Image: Kerstin Thompson Architects
Phyllis Constance Murphy, VIC
For significant service to architecture, and to built heritage conservation. Murphy was awarded a Life Fellowship by the Australian Institute of Architects in 1970 and has been a member since 1952. Murphy was one of only two female graduates of architecture in 1949 from the University of Melbourne, after which she launched her practice with husband John Murphy, creating their most notable design works in the 1950s. Murphy has authored a number of books on design and decoration and was recognised with the Enduring Architecture Award for the Melbourne Olympic Swimming Stadium at the National Architecture Awards in 2021. John and Phyllis Murphy lend their names to the highest award for Residential Architecture – Houses (A;terations and Additions) in the Victorian Architecture Awards.
Joseph George Lewit, VIC
For significant service to architecture, and to public administration. Lewit has been recognized for his contribution to public administration, serving as president of the Temple Beth Israel in Melbourne, a volunteer for Jewish Care Victoria, councillor for the City of Malvern, project consultant for the Victorian Department of Health and more. Previously, he has worked as a project leader for architectural firm Bates Smart and was also the director of the architectural team on the Royal Women’s Hospital redevelopment project.
Garry Winten Rothwell and Susan Elizabeth Rothwell, NSW
For significant service to the not-for-profit sector, and to architecture. Garry and Susan Rothwell co-founded the Garry and Susan Rothwell Chair in Architectural Design Leadership in 2018. As architects, property developers and philanthropists, the pair has donated heavily to the University of New South Wales to promote the careers of design PhD students. Both founded the Rothwell Family Foundation in 2018 and are benefactors to the Art Gallery of New South Wales and donors to the Sydney Modern Project. Susan is the current director of Susan Rothwell Architects, while Garry is the founder of Winten Property Group, established 1972, and the designer of Sydney Botanic Gardens’ glass pyramid.
The Glass Pyramid, Royal Botanic Gardens Sydney, 1986, designed by Garry Rothwell.
Image: Courtesy of City of Sydney archives
The following architects were awarded a Medal of the Order (OAM):
Soo-Tee Cheong, NSW
For service to architecture, to urban planning, and to the community. Cheong has contributed to many public boards, including the Design Review Panel, the NSW state government, and Lane Cove Council. He is an architect and urban planner with a Green Star acreditation since 2007. He has also been an executive committee member for the Australian Chinese Community of Assocation of NSW.
Peter Hugh Lee, WA
For service to community housing initiatives, and to architecture. Lee has been a director at Hassell since 2004 and also maintains board roles with Form, Foundation Housing, Open House Perth and Rottnest Island Authority. Lee was elevated to Life Fellow of the Australian Institute of Architects in 2019 and is also an adjunct professor at Curtin University.
Donald Ross Mason, NSW
For service to architecture. Mason has had a career in architecture spanning 40 years. He is the former chair of the NSW Chapter of the Australian INstitute of Architects and remains a fellow today. He has been dominated architect for Dwell Designs Australia since 2018 and is a former judge for for the Building Designers of Australia, National Building Design Awards, from 2014 to 2019.
In the 2022 Queens Birthday Honours, more than 45 percent of awards in the general division of the Order of Australia were awarded to women, including Australia’s first female state premier, Carmen Lawrence (WA). Click here to view a complete list of the 2022 Queens Birthday Honours recognitions.
