Monique Woodward

An architect of the moment designing for tomorrow

In any industry, there are certain voices that signal the arrival of a new era. For Australian architecture, Monique Woodward is one of those voices.

This profile comes from a BETTER FUTURE Spotlight conversation between Monique and our Founder Mark Bergin.

By Lucy Grant

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onique Woodward is the director at WOWOWA Architecture—a Melbourne/ Naarm & Perth/Boorloo-based practice full of ‘optimistic lateral thinkers’ who offer residential, civic and probono city shaping work. She is exceptionally passionate about not just the built space, but the entire political and social eco-system it operates within. In discussing what it means to be an architect, she answers ‘we are champions of the built environment and good design, and what that means for community and environment.’

This notion shone through at Collective Agency in 2019 (which Monique co-curated), where the intent was to ‘talk about sustainability in a way that was fresh, in a way that resonated and in a way that engaged with Country’. The conference picked up on the steadily building momentum gathering around the ‘global shift towards decolonisation, towards indigenising the built environment, towards diversity and gender equality’, and asked the questions: ‘what are the issues at play?; how can we challenge the status quo?; how can we be better activists?; how can we market ourselves in a way that is meaningful?; and how can we change the conversation?’

These are themes and questions that exist throughout Monique’s growing body of work and they are a big part of what makes her such an invaluable asset to the Australian design community. Monique’s ability to identify what a better future might look like and to suggest how we can begin to go about its creation renders her perfect for the current moment.

Monique admits to having a self-appointed ‘obsession with the power of the individual’, and she stresses that we must continually be asking ourselves ‘well what am I actually doing about it?’ Monique’s need to do is immense and she stresses that in this current social, political and environmental climate we find ourselves living in, there is ‘no time for promises anymore, there is only time for action’. As individuals we must embrace the agency and potential we possess, and part of that is understanding that ‘accountability and transparency are important signifiers that will allow us to step into our truth’.

Monique and the WOWOWA team certainly do not shy away from accountability and transparency; In 2019 they attained certified B Corporation status and they have been 100% carbon neutral and gas-free since 2020. When Monique caught up with our Founder Mark Bergin in 2021, the studio was already shifting their sights to ISO 9000 Certification, backed by the determination to ‘live [their] values’ and ‘get clear on what [they] stand for’. This valuesled approach to design must be championed as the new standard, and the powerful voices (and actions!) of people like Monique are going a long way to help normalise greener and fairer practice.

One of the most exciting developments for WOWOWA is their involvement in Finding Infinity’s A New Normal—a $100 billion transformation initiative for the City of Melbourne guided by fifteen projects that will ‘transform Greater Melbourne from a consumer to a producer by 2030.’ A New Normal has partnered with studios from around the globe, and hinges on the idea that ‘as countries are too politicised, it is cities that can make real change’. The project proposes not just a better future, but an ‘astounding future’ for Melbourne. With true innovation projects like these, there is, according to Monique, a certain collegiate buzz within the architecture profession in Melbourne right now, ‘where everyone is very supportive of each other, and it feels like [they] are starting to sing from the same song book as an industry’.

WOWOWA’s participant project for A New Normal is a waste–to–energy concept that ‘couples public pools with Anaerobic Digesters, converting food waste from the local community into biofuel to heat these facilities’. They chose Fitzroy Swimming Pool to illustrate the concept and it took out Gold in the 2021 Melbourne Design Awards Better Future – Circular Economy category.

Monique’s ideas are matched by her impressive drive and to hear her speak on design ignites many exciting possibilities for the future of not just the Australian built space, but architecture in general. As we collectively attempt to navigate complex, global issues, it is crucial that the conversations we are having occur globally, where leaders in their respective geographic regions can break out of their local discourse to share and gain insights from around the world, accelerating our path into a better future and finding cultural cohesion within a globalised society. It is the purpose of what we do at the Better Future Exec Club and recognising pioneering voices like Monique’s is central to our mission.

Monique’s ‘biggest fear in life would be that [she is] not here to serve others, to help them and contribute to a lineage, to understand that we are part of this chain that moves the needle on the big issues… to contribute in a way that is meaningful.’ Of that fear Monique need not worry, it is apparent to all that view her work that her values translate into tangible outcomes and she is certainly doing everything in her power to move that needle.

She describes herself as someone who ‘embraces everything wholeheartedly’ and from what we know of Monique that has definitely proved to be true. Watch this space! <

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WOWOWA’s Waste to Energy participant project for A New Normal.