Kwartatuma, nestled within the West MacDonnell Ranges, is a place of raw desert beauty and deep ecological and cultural significance. Its soaring red walls, permanent waterhole (up to 14 metres deep), and rare, relict plant and animal species—including the once-lost Central Rock Rat—make it a true desert sanctuary.

Michael Klerck and Vanessa Napaltjari Davis have worked in partnership for many years through the Tangentyere Council Research Division, focusing on the critical intersections of housing, health, energy insecurity, and essential services in Mparntwe’s Town Camps.

Their deep expertise and trusted relationships within the Mparntwe community stem from decades of respectful, on-the-ground work—producing influential research the right way, that drives change and challenges systems.

Kumalie Riley Kngwarraye will officially Welcome delegates to Mparntwe. She will lead a session on local language and cultural protocols, sharing the importance of cultural awareness and respectful engagement with Country. 

Kumalie has helped shape the conference ideas with her deep knowledge of Mparntwe’s history and culture. In a place where knowledge is often lost through transience, Kumalie's lived experience offers delegates a rare and vital perspective of Mparntwe's past, present and future, and working respectfully on Country.  

Troy Casey is a proud Kamilaroi man and the Managing Director of Blaklash, a collective of Meanjin-based First Nations designers, curators and placemakers who offer a unique approach to working in the built environment - one that is Country-led and embedded in people, places and traditional knowledge.

Guided by community and grounded in story, their practice is shaped by reciprocity — translating First Nations perspectives into public spaces, art, master plans, and cultural design.

On the western edge of Mparntwe (Alice Springs), overlooking the molten red hills of Tjoritja (West MacDonnell Ranges) sits a house designed to work with the extreme climate of the central desert. The Desert House by DunnHillam Architects was built in 2015 as a commitment from the clients to Mparntwe. An investment in place through design.

Marcus Piper is a founding committee member of RAA, on board from the moment he received a call from then-president Cameron Anderson back in 2021. As a non-architect, his initial motivations for joining the committee were the people, the professional and social engagement in the regions and his belief that design plays an important role in the way our regions are evolving.

​​​​​​​After close to five years of investing his time in the establishment and growth of RAA, Marcus is stepping down from the committee at the end of June 2025. On behalf of members, committee and the broader RAA network, we would like to thank him for his immense contribution to the organisation on all levels and wish him well for the future.

Arriving as a new RAA member, after my flight from Melbourne (via Saigon earlier that day) at Assembly The People’s Pub provided an initially daunting experience. Finding a quiet spot for the bag that had been home for the previous 10 days, I was almost immediately offered a cold drink and so the introductions and conversations began.

Renee McGuinn of LocalArchitect South Coast has been a RAA committee member since December 2023. Her initial motivation for joining came from her history of involvement in  industry committees which she always found to be fantastic platforms for creating meaningful change. Renee says “they also offer a strong sense of community—something that can be hard to come by when you're practicing in regional areas. At the time, there was limited support for regional architects from existing organisations, and the RAA felt like a promising step toward filling that gap. I wanted to be part of building that support network from the ground up.”

For the final fringe event on the VITAL program, join James Felton-Taylor and Anabel Kater of Australian Sustainable Timbers for an insightful discussion on regenerative forestry and the silvicultural practices that support sustainable timber production.

Integrated Design Group director Andrew Elia joined the RAA committee at the 2023 AGM.  Having been involved with the Country Division of the AIA since 2008, Andrew has really appreciated the RAA’s continued position giving a voice to regional architects, but also as an industry body, advocating for good outcomes for local communities.

Sue Dugdale and Miriam Wallace work in arguably one of Australia's toughest places to run an architecture practice, Mparntwe (Alice Springs). An extreme climate, transient work force and  political tug-of-wars are some of the forces they work with and against. After 30 years of they still finds more questions than answers: what is the best climatic response for buildings in Australia’s vast interior? Why do living environments for many Aboriginal people continue to fall short? What is the best way to give form to the cultural complexity and environment of the region?

Delegates will start their MPARNTWE experience with a sunrise tour at the Olive Pink Botanic Gardens on Thursday 11th September, day one of the event. HERE, the landscape is the starting point. It’s a constant, shaping presence - defining how people live, move, and connect with the place. IT is a starting point for the MPARNTWE experience.

Warren Haasnoot will present high-street renewal through the lens of a commercial site in Dungog. This freestanding corner shop on Dungog’s high street received DA approval for extension and modification that proposes different modes of occupation, through a singular intervention (a new rear building) and a light-handed upgrade of the original building.

Caroline Pidcock will present ideas around VITAL resilience in architecture through a conceptual and cultural lens. Adjunct Professor of Practice at University of Newcastle and recipient of the 2024 Emerald Green Award, Caroline believes that design is our human superpower and that architects hold a unique responsibility (and opportunity) to reimagine the spaces where we live, work, and play in a regenerative, low-carbon future. Our built environments can either deepen the crisis or become powerful resilient solutions.

The Royal Hotel Dungog will host us for the Thursday Community Dinner (buy your own) followed by Maitland musician Dave Wells taking the stage.

Emily Knight of Sydney based Emily Knight Design has been a RAA committee member since November 2023, having been inspired to give back to an organisation that made her feel very welcome and whose events she particularly enjoyed attending. It follows that Emily’s biggest achievement in her time on the committee has been her contribution to the planning and smooth running of in person events.

Sarah Aldridge of Byron Bay practice SPACEstudio is currently in the role of secretary and has been on the committee since the RAA’s inception in 2021. As a committed regionalist, Sarah strongly believed there was a desperate need for a representative body for regional practitioners, recognising that advocacy on behalf of regional practitioners at governance level is essential to the sustainability of regional practice. 

Dr Sarah Breen Lovett will present the FAST SLOW project, for personal and planetary wellbeing. The University of Newcastle, and Industry Partner Mudtec are working on this innovative housing solution, bringing together a FAST prefabricated structural system to facilitate SLOW DIY earth building. This project utilises the efficiency of prefabrication, with low carbon reused site materials to create high performing eco-homes that are more affordable and more mindfully created. The first FAST SLOW house is now in planning for the Narara Ecovillage on the NSW Central Coast.

Elliat Rich and James B. Young offer a rare insight into design and making, deeply rooted in the social, cultural, and ecological fabric of Mparntwe. Rich works across disciplines—from public art to cross-cultural resources—exploring the ethical and imaginative possibilities of design across Australia. Young brings a generational lineage of shoemaking to his bespoke leatherwork, where precision and tradition meet the raw materiality of the desert. Together, their practices speak to a form of creative practice that is thoughtful, place-based, and alive to the responsibilities of working within complex histories. As long-term locals and makers, they invite us to consider how design can hold knowledge, tell stories, and build lasting connections.  

David Donald offers a grounded perspective on the complex intersections of housing and health in remote Australian communities, informed by decades of listening, observing, and working on the ground, around the world. His work as an architect and Director of Healthabitat speaks to the broader role design thinking can play beyond traditional practice to create meaningful change.

Friday will conclude with dinner at the fabulous James Picture Theatre followed by a screening of ‘Wilding’ based on the bestselling book by Isabella Tree.