Meet the Speakers

Eoghan Murphy TD was appointed Minister for Housing, Planning & Local Government on 14 June 2017. He previously served as Minister of State for Financial Services, eGovernment and Public Procurement from May 2016.  He is the Fine Gael TD for Dublin South East. He was elected to Dáil Éireann in the February 2011 General Election.

Prior to that he served as Minister of State at the Departments of Finance and Public Expenditure & Reform, with special responsibility for Financial Services, eGovernment and Public Procurement.

He is a member of Fine Gael and represents the constituency of Dublin Bay South. He was first elected to Dáil Éireann in 2011, and was subsequently re-elected in 2016. Between 2009 and 2011 he served as a Councillor on Dublin City Council for the Pembroke-Rathmines ward.

Before his appointment as Minister of State, Eoghan served on the Banking Inquiry, the Public Accounts Committee, the Dáil Reform Committee, as Head of the Oireachtas delegation to the OSCE, and as Chairperson of the Fine Gael Transport, Tourism and Sport Committee.

Prior to entering politics, Eoghan worked in the area of international arms control, and was based in London, Geneva and Vienna, working at various times for NGOs and the UN. He spent two years as speechwriter and advisor to the Executive Secretary of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty Organisation in Vienna.

Michael Maltzan founded Michael Maltzan Architecture, Inc. in 1995. His projects cross a wide range of typologies, from cultural institutions to city infrastructure. 

His multi-family residential projects completed over the past decade, including Star Apartments, New Carver Apartments, Crest Apartments, and One Santa Fe, have gained international acclaim for their innovation in both design and construction.

These projects have been featured in exhibitions and publications worldwide and are the focus of Michael’s most recent book, “Social Transparency: Projects on Housing” published by the Columbia University Press in 2016.

Michael received an M.Arch from the Graduate School of Design, Harvard University, and BFA and B.Arch degrees from the Rhode Island School of Design. Michael is a Fellow of the American Institute of Architects, a recipient of the American Academy of Arts and Letters Architecture Award, and the 2016 AIA Los Angeles Gold Medal Honoree.

Phil Bernstein is an architect, technologist and educator who is the Associate Dean and Senior Lecturer at the Yale School of Architecture, where he received his B.A (honors) and  M.Arch. He was formerly a Vice President at Autodesk where he was responsible for setting the company’s future vision and strategy for BIM technology as well as cultivating and sustaining the firm’s relationships with strategic industry leaders and associations. 

Prior to Autodesk Phil was a principal at Pelli Clarke Pelli Architects where he managed many of the firm’s most complex commissions. 

He is the author of Architecture | Design | Data – Practice Competency in the Era of Computation (2018) and co-editor of Building (In) The Future:  Recasting Labor in Architecture (2010), and speaks and writes extensively on technology, practice and project delivery. He is a Senior Fellow of the Design Futures Council and former Chair of the AIA National Contract Documents Committee.

Director of Bates Smart Architects has been leading in technology and design innovation in Australia and will speak on developing his architectural practice through design thinking and competitions.

The City of Sydney has mandated competitions, which opened possibilities for architects to win larger scale city work.

Sadie Morgan is a founding director of Stirling Prize winning architecture practice dRMM, alongside Alex de Rijke and Philip Marsh. The studio is recognised for creating innovative, high quality and socially useful architecture.

dRMM’s recent high profile projects include Hastings Pier, Trafalgar Place at Elephant & Castle, Maggie’s Oldham and Faraday House at the Battersea Power Station.

Sadie chairs the Independent Design Panel for High Speed Two, is a commissioner of the National Infrastructure Commission and deputy chair of the Thames Estuary 2050 Growth Commission.

Sadie was appointed as a Mayor’s design advocate for the Greater London Authority and non-executive director of the Major Project Association in 2017.

Sadie lectures internationally on the work of dRMM and the importance of infrastructure which connects back to people and place.

In 2013 she became the youngest president of the Architectural Association, and in 2016 she was appointed professor at the University of Westminster and awarded an honorary doctorate from London South Bank University.

In 2017, she was named New Londoner of the Year at the New London Awards for her work championing the importance of design at the highest political level.

Architect Russell Curtis is a Director of procurement innovators Project Compass and and former Chair of RIBA Procurement Reform Group – will discuss proposals to work to reform procurement in the building industry.

Procurement reform and better access to projects for SMEs is a major issue in the Irish architectural profession.

Joining us from Dublin is Prof Jennifer McElwain, Professor of Botany at Trinity College. Professor McElwain will offer fascinating insights into the effects of Climate Change through her work as a Paleo-Botanist.

Yvonne Farrell and Shelley McNamara are the directors of Grafton Architects, established in 1978. Both are graduates of University College Dublin, fellows of the RIAI, International Honorary Fellows of the RIBA and elected members of Aosdána, the eminent Irish Art organization.

Grafton Architects has won numerous international awards, including the World Building of the Year Award in 2008 for the Universita Luigi Bocconi in Milan, which is widely acclaimed and recognized as a seminal contemporary work, and most recently, the 2016 Royal Institute of British Architects International Prize for the University of Technology and Engineering campus in Peru, named the world’s best new building.

This project was also a finalist for the Mies Crown Hall Americas Prize for the most outstanding works of architecture in the Americas.

Yvonne and Shelley are curators of the Venice Architectural Biennale 2018 themed FREESPACE.

Freespace encourages reviewing ways of thinking, new ways of seeing the world, of inventing solutions where architecture provides for the wellbeing and dignity of each citizen of this fragile planet.

Paul Jansen is the Cities Market Leader for Arup and working from their Amsterdam office on urban challenges all over Europe. With a background in urban economics Paul contributed to city developments in various countries, commissioned by public as well as private clients.

Modern work environments and more specific a vital economy are crucial to resilient cities and regions; this passion drives him to secure and address adaptive elements in urban systems. Today these areas are mostly called; innovation areas or districts, science parks, university campuses, business parks and industrial innovation sites.

Niamh has been working within the field of housing, homelessness and drug use for over 20 years and is the Head of Policy and Communications for the Simon Communities in Ireland.

She is the National Spokesperson speaking on behalf of the Simon Communities on national policy, advocacy and strategy matters. Niamh was the Irish Representative on the FEANTSA Administrative Council from 2011-2013.

She has a degree in Sociology and Social Policy (UCD); a Master’s of Science in Drug and Alcohol Policy (TCD), a CIH/ICSH Certificate in Housing, and has recently completed the IHREC/IPA Professional Diploma in Human Rights and Equality.

Since 2011 David has been the Chair of the Government Contracts Committee for Construction and senior adviser on public works and construction services procurement. 

He is a member of the National BIM Council and the Construction Sector Group established under the National Development Plan to promote regular and open dialogue between the public sector and key segments of the construction industry. 

Prior to his current role he worked with the National Building Agency where he was a lead architect on social housing and urban regeneration projects. 

Peter Halpenny is Group Developments Director of Ballymore Group, with overall responsibility for implementing the Ballymore Group’s developments strategy across development assets in the UK and Ireland.

Prior to joining Ballymore, Peter spent 8 years in a similar role with the Mountbrook Group, where his focus was on quality residential, commercial and retail developments across the Greater Dublin area.

Before moving into Property Development Peter had spent 4 years in Consultant Quantity Surveying in Dublin, with the then Bruce Shaw Partnership. During this time he was primarily focused on speculative commercial office and retail developments.

Peters career started in General Contracting, having graduated from DIT Bolton Street, with McInerney Group, gaining experience across an array of Sectors and projects in Ireland, the UK and the Middle East.

Laurence Lord, MRIAI is an architect and curator. He is Co-Commissioner/Curator of the Irish National Pavilion at La Biennale di Venezia 2018 (www.free-market.ie).

He practices as an architect with AP+E and is a studio lecturer at the Cork Centre for Architectural Education.