Liam grew up in Melbourne and studied science, Japanese, architecture and property at the University of Melbourne, and Architecture at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts. He established HIP V. HYPE in 2002, a multi-disciplinary company that operates as a sustainability consultancy and developer of sustainable, research-based residential properties and property models.
 
The company has three parts to its advisory – building performance and delivery, policy and planning for government, and developing strategies and plans to assist businesses in their response to climate change. It also has two work-share spaces for sustainably minded businesses, both of which are located in Melbourne.
 
HIP V. HYPE worked on the first two of Melbourne’s Nightingale projects as an investor, developer and collaborator on the environmentally, socially and financially sustainable housing models. Of its own multi-unit residential developments, Liam and his family have now lived in three of HIP V. HYPE’s projects, including the latest Ferrars & York. The multi award-winning building, which was designed in collaboration with Six Degrees and built by Ironside, has 22 carbon-neutral apartments and is powered by 100 per cent renewable energy.
 
As this year’s Sir Ian Athfield Memorial Lecture presenter, Liam will discuss our rights and responsibilities in light of climate change and its impact on our environment and infrastructure. He will cover the policies and frameworks he has developed for government and discuss sustainability goals such as carbon neutrality. He will also present a case study on his company’s latest residential project, Ferrars & York in South Melbourne, together with an upcoming project.

DATES

Te Whanganui-a-Tara Wellington Embassy Theatre: Tuesday 19 September

Ōtautahi Christchurch Christchurch Town Hall: Wednesday 20 September

Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland Town Hall: Thursday 21 September

All events commence at 5:30pm. CPD Points – 10 (Design)

Book your tickets.

About the Sir Ian Athfield Memorial Lecture

The annual Resene Sir Ian Athfield Memorial Lecture commemorates the late Ian Athfield, a singular and much-loved figure in New Zealand architecture.
 
Affectionately known as ‘Ath’, Ian was knighted in 2014 and was one of New Zealand’s most influential architects. He won more than 60 national and international architecture and design awards and the lecture series was established to honour his legacy and celebrate his larrikin spirit.

In keeping with that spirit, each year the lecture is given by a person with something to say – someone who is challenging orthodoxy and a business-as-usual approach to practice, and life.

During his career, Ath designed many significant buildings, none more so than his own home in Te Whanganui-a-Tara Wellington, which enraged the neighbours, perplexed the Council and inspired the city for decades.
 
Ath was talented, original, insightful, opinionated, provocative, and sometimes outrageous. His architecture is stimulating, challenging, ever-changing, but never careless.
 
In 2004, Te Kāhui Whaihanga awarded Ath the Gold Medal for career achievements, noting at the time “What defines Athfield above all is his contagious enthusiasm, his devotion to architecture, and his unswerving belief in its possibilities. Believing architecture to be a civilising force, he has demonstrated a strong commitment to architecture’s public realm: the streets we live in; the urban centres we inhabit; the countryside we love and so often abuse.”
 
The Sir Ian Athfield Lecture Series is proudly sponsored by Resene.