Helen Lochhead AO

Helen Lochhead AO is an architect and urban designer whose career spans over thirty years of practice, public leadership, and academic scholarship. A registered architect, landscape architect, and planner, she has focused on urban design, public works, and the planning and delivery of complex large-scale urban regeneration projects across Australia and the United States. In 2024 she was appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia for exceptional contributions to architecture and urban design, building regulation reform, and education.

Lochhead holds a Master of Science in Architecture and Urban Design from the Columbia Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation, and a Bachelor of Architecture and Bachelor of Science (Architecture) from the University of Sydney. In 2013—14 she was awarded a Lincoln/Loeb Fellowship at Harvard University’s Graduate School of Design and the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy, where she studied design, policy, and governance strategies for sustainable, climate-resilient coastal cities.

Her professional career includes senior roles in both public and private sectors. As Director of Strategic Developments at the Sydney Harbour Foreshore Authority and through successive positions at the NSW Government Architect’s Office, she led the inception, design, and delivery of significant urban projects. Her work on the Harold Park Precinct in Sydney was recognised with the RAIA NSW Lloyd Rees Award for Urban Design and the City of Sydney Lord Mayor’s Prize for Urban Design Excellence, both in 2019.

As National President of the Australian Institute of Architects (2019—2021), Lochhead chaired the board, led Australia’s exhibition at the 2020 Venice Architecture Biennale, and established the Climate Action and Sustainability Taskforce. In academia she served as Dean of the Faculty of Built Environment at UNSW Sydney (2015—2020) — the first woman to hold the position — and as Pro Vice-Chancellor (Precincts) from 2020 to 2022. She is a longstanding champion of women in architecture and construction, founding Engaging Women in Built Environment in 2016 to profile and connect women across research and industry, for which she received the Paula Whitman Leadership in Gender Equity Prize in 2019.