Highlight On: Morgan Southwick

Following her love of history has taken Morgan to some of the best learning institutions in the world - the Universities of Oxford and Harvard – and opened the door to a unique, culturally rich and meaningful career working with holocaust survivors and Anti-Slavery Australia.

What has been your path since graduating in 2009?

After graduating I took a year to travel before returning home to start university. I started with a communications degree but quickly realised that it was not for me and transferred to an advanced arts degree to study history and philosophy.

I moved to the UK to complete a Masters in British and European history at the University of Oxford before returning home to embark on my PhD at the University of Sydney. My research allowed me ample opportunity to work in the archives, meet remarkable individuals and travel, including a six-month stint as a visiting fellow at Harvard in 2018.

What has your path been since graduating in 2004?

I studied at Newcastle University completing a Bachelor of Design (Architecture) in 2007.

In 2007, I started working at Jorge Hrdina Architects before enrolling in a Master of Architecture. I continued to work part-time while completing the Master of Architecture degree in which I graduated with Honours in 2010.

I then joined the team at BVN Architecture, before establishing Matthew Woodward Architecture (MWA) in 2013. It has now grown from a solo practice of one, to a team of seven full-time employees with different cultural backgrounds and skill sets.

What do you love most about your job?

Working with people to bring creative design ideas into reality. Whether it’s our visionary clients, specialist consultants or talented craftsmen, architecture is fundamentally the result of human interaction and collaboration. We endeavour on this journey together to create something that is truly special.

MWA has built a reputation for designing high-end homes connected to their natural surrounds. Of your projects, what has been the highlight to date?

I would have to say working on a rural project in the Megalong Valley which would become a country retreat for a family of four generations. The project is called ‘Stonelea’ and was complete in 2020.

It was a great project and each time I return to the house it feels more and more like it belongs as it settles into the surrounding landscape.

Where do you see the next 10 years taking you?

I’m looking forward to seeing our practice grow and evolve as new projects are complete and opportunities arise. We are currently working on alternative project typologies such as a boutique public Wellness facility in the post-industrial precinct of Balgowlah.

I am also looking forward to ways that I can start to give back to the profession of Architecture. Whether this is through participating in the Australian Institute of Architects award jury panels or by teaching and mentoring students at University.

In 2019, I was offered a position at the Sydney Jewish Museum to teach Holocaust and Human Rights History. When I finished my doctorate in 2020, I moved to full-time work at the museum coordinating a project to create threedimensional, interactive biographies. This opportunity afforded me the unique privilege of working closely with Holocaust survivors who I interviewed over the course of a week, posing close to a thousand questions.

Read the full interview at ccgs.nsw.edu.au

Phoebe Britten (Dux, 2022) has been selected as the youngest official member of the Youthwise International Advisory Board 2023 at the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).

She will be working with a team of 22 people across all member nations. As part of her role she’ll learn from leading policy experts, create public policy recommendations and advise the OECD on key issues relating to climate change, inclusive growth, gender equality and sustainable development.