Fellow Award: HOWARD MOUTRIE

Howard’s journey into access consulting started in 1989 when he was asked to represent the Building Owners & Managers Association (now Property Council) on the ME 64 committee. As a young architect he had little knowledge of the accessibility standards though he had consulted ACROD on one of his major projects and his experience on the committee was a quick and steep learning curve. During his time on the committee he was involved in the formulation of AS 1428.1-1993 and was one of the major contributors to AS 4299 – Adaptable Housing.

In his role as the BOMA representative he was asked to review the proposed Development Control Plans from a number of NSW Councils who were responding to the new DDA. These DCPs were requiring that new multi-unit housing developments include a percentage of accessible housing. Howard suggested that the new Adaptable Housing was a more appropriate response and the result was that most Councils in NSW require adaptable housing. Howard left the committee in the late 1990s but was to again join in the 2019.

After commencing his own architectural practice in 2002, Howard joined the Sutherland Council Design Review Panel, reviewing the architectural quality of all major development applications. With his experience he found himself commenting on accessibility, though at this stage it wasn’t a major criteria in the assessment process. This approach lead to a request to act as an expert witness in the NSW Land & Environment Court. The opposing expert was a formidable Mark Relf. After the hearing, Mark asked Howard would he be interested in joining the new ACAA. He did and this changed his career direction adding access consulting to his architecture practice. In 2008, Sutherland Council asked if he would move from the Design review panel to their Access Committee as it need some rigour. He did so and remained on the committee until recently. By 2010, Howard would end his architectural practice and concentrate solely on access consulting. He was also appointed to the City of Sydney Access Panel in 2010 and later the NSW Building Professionals Board access advisory panel in 2011.

Howard has been an active member of the ACAA. With the setting up of the NSW network Howard took on the role of Treasurer in 2013 and later, in 2018, the position of Treasurer of the main body of the ACAA, a position he still holds.

Howard’s focus has always been on the technical aspects of both architecture and access consulting and is a regular contributor to the e-forum, the Insight magazine and has instigated the Technical Sub-committee and the technical advisory panel.

From a project point of view, Howard’s experience has been varied, encompassing aged care, residential, commercial, retail, heritage and educational projects. One of the most challenging was Wet’n’Wild Sydney which, with the assistance of a responsive client, won the 2017 NSW Access Inclusion Award for Outdoor Public Space.

Howard is a well-respected member of ACAA and has contributed his time in a variety of ACAA related activities both at National and State levels. He has also mentored many upcoming Access Consultants in the field and is a worthy recipient of ACAA Fellow Membership