Women's Month Profile: LIZELLE MCLEAN, ASSOCIATE, GASS ARCHITECTURE STUDIOS

This August, in celebration of Women’sMonth, Leading Architecture + Design has profiled a dozen inspiring women in the fields of architecture, urbanism, interior design and engineering, showcasing their skills and achievements, as well as their views on the challenges that the industry faces.

LIZELLE MCLEAN, ASSOCIATE, GASS ARCHITECTURE STUDIOS

Lizelle McLean graduated in 2009 with a Master’s degree in architecture (cum laude) from the University of Pretoria. Her experience includes single-family residential, adaptive reuse, multi-family residential (including social housing and student housing), as well as commercial work and corporate interiors.

“I am drawn to the adaptive re-use work we have done in the inner cities of Johannesburg and Pretoria,” says Lizelle. “It is really inspiring to see how a project can make a real difference in the lives of everyday people.”

Recent career highlights include a social housing development of approximately 2 000 units, which is scheduled to be completed in 2023. She also counts among her achievements a major renovation to an existing high-rise commercial building in Braamfontein, Johannesburg, completed in 2019.

She says that in her view, major challenges that need to be corrected in the field of architecture include the perception that women get “too emotional” when speaking up, and the belief that women are somehow different or inferior to their male counterparts.

Tel: +27 (0)11 482 2045 Email: studio@gass.co.za www.gass.co.za