Listen to this inspiring conversation between Poppy Taylor and Clare Steen as they discuss their education, early career and first projects, the benefits of being opportunistic and spontaneous, and the day to day challenges of the work life juggle.
Our conversationalists for this episode are Poppy Taylor and Clare Steen. Poppy is a co-founder of Taylor & Hinds Architects and Clare is a co-Director of Launceston-based Plain Architecture.
In this lively, engaging conversation, Poppy and Clare chat about their commonalities – being Tasmanian architects (born, bred and educated) with young families, who are running small practices. They reflect on their education, their younger selves (full of naivety, enthusiasm and brashness), their early formative projects and the serendipitous and life-changing moments in their careers.
Poppy and Clare discuss their respective first projects – both residential, both wonderful and positive experiences. Poppy shares a sliding door moment, when an unexpected financial obstacle opened up an opportunity to design her first house on Flinders Island. “That first one was done at a nice pace with amazing people in an amazing place, and that connection is still there to this day for us with Flinders Island.” Clare describes her spontaneous purchase of a block of land while still at university, offering her the chance to design her own first budget home.
Other topics traversed include the challenges of work-life balance, the male-dominated site experience and the importance of time spent on site, the poisoned chalice of being hired “because I’m female” and the need to call out unacceptable gender bias in the industry.
This episode of Parlour POD was produced with the assistance of the Alastair Swayn Foundation through a Design Audio Grant. Thanks!
This episode was recorded live on Muwinina Country at the 2023 Hobart Spring Salon. Held at Brickworks on 19 September 2023, the Salon was convened by Nicky Adams of The Findlay Project. Photos: Nina Hamilton.
