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Lecture

Thursday 17 September 2026, 6 PM

The ������ School of Architecture, Design and Planning hosted Bill Sharples, founding principal of SHoP architects, for the second Rothwell Public Lecture for 2026.

Titled ‘The Future of Architecture is Already in the Work’, Bill spoke about how the future of architecture is not simply visionary, rather, it is already taking shape in the work we do. 

“It will not emerge from a single new technology, project type, or business strategy. It is already embedded in the questions we have been pursuing, the ideas we have been testing, and the buildings we have been working to realise.”

Bill explored the firm's approach to architecture as a framework for human experience, responsive to place, history, culture, and change over time.

“The most meaningful buildings are not static objects. They change how people move, they create relationships, they establish rituals, they influence how people work, connect, gather, and belong.”

Tracing ideas from early research and workplace studies through projects like Uber Headquarters in San Francisco, a commercial tower in Brisbane and, most recently, Atlassian Central Tower and 55 Pitt Street in Sydney, the lecture examined how innovation can emerge by testing and refining ideas already present.

Discussing the ‘taxidermy’ of the Atlassian Central Tower, Sharples spoke of how “the ideas for this project were not invented for a single competition, but rather they emerged through a sequence of projects, questions, and experiments. Each project allowed us to test a part of a larger hypothesis: can a large building create the intimacy, connectivity, and sense of belonging of a much smaller place?”

This lecture was made possible thanks to the generous support of alumni Garry and Susan Rothwell, whose contribution enabled the launch of the Rothwell Public Lecture series. 

For Place and Performance: Explorations in Facade Design workshop with SHoP architects

How can a building façade operate simultaneously as an expression of architectural intent, a material assembly, and an environmental mediator?

As part of their Rothwell Speaker Series visit, Bill Sharples, Founding Principal, and Scott Overall, Director of Computational Design at SHoP architects, delivered an extra-curricular workshop to Master of Architecture and Master of Building Performance and Sustainable Design students.

In this hands-on workshop, students investigated SHoP Architects’ methodology for designing façades and curtain walls as integrated architectural systems rather than isolated exterior surfaces. Through projects including Atlassian Central, 55 Pitt Street, Collins Arch, and West 57th Street, participants examined how a façade’s identity and spatial character emerge from the interplay of concept, material, depth, structure, fabrication, and environmental performance.

The workshop considered how technical and constructability requirements can become sources of architectural expression, and how façades can mediate daylight, climate, views, and occupant experience. The group participated in hands-on concept exploration exercises drawn from the design processes used by façade designers at SHoP, enabling students to test these relationships and apply them in their own work.