People and Culture
Welcome to BKK Architects.
We’re collaborators, not competitors. We like being part of a wider Melbourne design community and we actively seek out opportunities for collaborative relationships with other architects, landscape architects, artists, and designers of many disciplines.
Real collaboration is an attitude and a skillset in itself – one that we’re proud to share.
This attitude brings variety and depth to our practice. It’s how we punch above our weight as lead consultants on major infrastructure projects yet remain small enough to deliver gorgeous and sustainable homes.
Sustainability Action Plan
We’re a NoC02 certified carbon neutral business and a signatory to Australian Architects Declare. Our Sustainability Action Plan maps our journey towards delivering on all the Architects Declare and then aiming beyond sustainability towards regeneration. Read about it here.
Reconciliation Action Plan
As architects our responsibility extends beyond the built environment; it encompasses a commitment to the lands, communities, and cultural heritage intertwined with our projects. In 2021 we launched our Reflect Reconciliation Action Plan with Reconciliation Australia, joining thousands of other organisations dedicated to reconciliation efforts. Read about it here.
We helped establish the Architecture and Design Reconciliation Industry Network Group, with Reconciliation Australia and other architectural practices. This has created a platform for shared learnings, relationship building and transparent discussions about our Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP) journeys.
We have had the opportunity to work with various indigenous consultants and advisors on projects within the office, and value the process of Collaboration. We believe embedding reconciliation principles into all aspect of architectural practice is pivotal in shaping a more inclusive and respectful industry.
Simon Knott
Principal
Tim Black
Principal
Deb Adams
Senior Associate
Jennifer Salter
Associate
Ewan Carson
Project Delivery Manager
George Huon
Principal
Vaughan Howard
Associate
Wendy Lee-Warne
Senior Architect
Georgia Hocking
Project Architect
Nico Kelly
Associate
Hannah Rowe
Project Architect
Kelvin Chai
Senior Design & Visualisation
Lucy McAuliffe
Senior Project Architect
Kate Jenkin
Interior Designer
Missy Saleeba
Practice Manager
Liz Phun
Senior Architect
Elizabeth Mason
Interior Designer
Gerald Low
Student of Architecture
Iliya Manasiev
Graduate of Architecture
Monet Plant
Business Support
Sorna Graetz
Architect
Maximiliano De La Jara Kojak
Graduate of Architecture
Ryan Esselink
Graduate of Architecture
Raquel Maldonado
Graduate of Architecture
Vanda Scarfo
Finance Manager
Mario De Bem
Senior Architectural Technician
Real corporate social responsibility
We don’t just say we’re committed to social ideals, we actually give them our time and skills.
We have a longstanding relationship with FareShare, which provides free nutritious meals for people who need them. We help out with labour and fundraising. We’ve worked with Australian Migrant Educational Services to mentor migrants who are architects or who are studying architecture. We’ve partnered with She Works to offer employment opportunities for women.
Proactively seeking diversity
A diverse team is a wise, well-informed team – a team whose projects are for everyone. We proactively reach out to suitably experienced and qualified individuals whose backgrounds bring a range of perspectives to enrich BKK and the architectural community.
LGBTIQA+ people and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are encouraged to apply for any vacancy we advertise.
Bring all your personality, energy and design thinking to a nimble smaller practice.
At BKK, your job title doesn’t determine your contribution to the design process. We listen to everyone’s input. We hold weekly design-review sessions to get the best thinking on all our projects.
Our design philosophy is based on humility: on trust and respect for others’ perspectives. Our role is to curate, not dictate, the design process. We focus on the integrity of the outcome, wherever the ideas come from.
We are always looking for new talent.
Send Missy your CV and portfolio as a PDF to office@b-k-k.com.au
Great contemporary workplace
Our new office is five minutes’ walk from Flinders Street Station. Our kitchen, with its floor-to-ceiling views of ACMI, the Birrarung (Yarra River) and the parklands beyond, is where we meet, cook and eat, and entertain professional friends and collaborators.
Like most architects, we found that designing together was the toughest part of remote work during the lockdowns. So we’ve prioritised spaces for collaboration and meetings. We know that individual work can be done anywhere but, let’s face it, people are territorial, so we all have our own desks.
Our role is to curate, not dictate, the design process. We focus on the integrity of the outcome, wherever the ideas come from.
Professional development
We offer all our people an annual allowance for professional development, providing the career growth and learning opportunities of their choice. Our mentoring and buddying program is available to staff at all levels.
Innovation
Join our innovation working group to develop digital design tools, research sustainable design, and more. Bring along your ideas for new ways to make architecture and contribute to the business, the building and the profession.
Flexible working arrangements
You’re a human being with responsibilities and a life, and Monday to Friday 9 to 6 isn’t always the most effective way to work. Design teams need to work together face-to-face. Apart from that, talk to us about flexible arrangements that suit you and us.
Parental leave
Primary carers of all genders receive six weeks’ leave on full pay (or 12 weeks on half pay) and flexible arrangements for when you return to work. While you’re on leave you’ll receive keep-in-touch days and paid superannuation, and you’ll accrue long service leave.