Insight
Our Sydney Studio has Moved!
The DesignInc Sydney and Nguluway DesignInc teams have moved into a new studio that fosters collaboration, creativity and connection.
Nguluway DesignInc
Nguluway DesignInc is a majority Indigenous-owned design firm on Gadigal land, of the Dharug Language Group. We offer architecture, interior design, landscape and urban design services.
Led by Wiradjuri Architect Craig Kerslake, Nguluway DesignInc is a unique partnership fusing Indigenous design thinking with the technical capability and capacity of the DesignInc team.
Collectively, our combined talent of over 100+ architects, urban planners, interior designers and landscape architects will bring an Indigenous lens to your project—designing from Country.
Traditional Custodians of our lands have a strong and enduring connection to the landscape and this profoundly influences how we view ourselves. We envisage the preservation of Australia’s unique history and cultural connections captured on all projects, enhancing cultural literacy in our society.
With the ever increasing demand for First Australian voices within the profession, we seek to foster and grow their representation and contributions within the sector through mentoring, scholarships and employment opportunities.
Our Nguluway studio is on Gadigal land
Designing from Country involves a cultural moral framework which guides my architectural practice, and all of my team as well. Carbon neutrality is one thing, creating neighbourhoods and connecting those neighbourhoods to the natural world is really essential for the work that we do.
Craig Kerslake, Director
Our vision
Our vision is to help build a prosperous nation that values and embraces culture in our built environment. We are culturally-led and inspired, bringing connection to Country to the forefront of design. We strive to enhance built environments by interweaving cultural knowledge and traditions of place in all that we do.
Leadership
The Nguluway DesignInc team is led by First Nations architect and proud Wiradjuri man, Craig Kerslake. Craig draws upon his cultural heritage, community and knowledge of Country. He fosters this way of knowing and doing across the team, bringing deep understanding to inform spatial planning and architectural form.
Design and delivery experience
Nguluway DesignInc combines Aboriginal leadership with the design and delivery experience of the DesignInc Sydney Studio. For each project we tailor a unique team which includes our Aboriginal leadership, client, consultants and community representatives together with the best people from our pool of over 100 talented architects, urban designers, landscape architects and interior designers.
Cultural literacy and awareness
We are committed to enhancing cultural literacy and awareness through our organisation, industry and society. We foster a shared understanding of identity and belonging grounded in Indigenous world views, to enhance the experience and knowledge across all of our team.
Mentorship and employment
First Australians are inherently connected to place and space and yet are under-represented in the design and architecture industry. Our mentorship and employment programs aim to support greater opportunities for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander expertise and a more culturally inclusive industry and society.
Accreditations and certifications
Nguluway DesignInc is an affiliate of the First Australians Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FACCI), the NSW Indigenous Chamber of Commerce (NSWICC) and a member of Supply Nation. We have a number of nominated architects with the Australian Institute of Architects.
Insight
NAIDOC Week—’Architecture, Design, People and Place’
As part of NAIDOC Week 2023, DesignInc Sydney and Nguluway DesignInc collaborated with Ethos Urban and Curio Projects to host an exciting event on Cockatoo Island—’Architecture, Design, People and Place’.
Insight
Greater Cities Podcast—Episode 3: Greening Cities
‘Greater Cities’ is a podcast series about the future of cities. Each episode challenges listeners to look at the big issues facing our cities, with insights from leading thinkers from Australia and around the world.
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Belonging to Country—yindyamarra winhanganha
People often ask what it means to be a First Nations designer, and what designing from Country really means. Nguluway DesignInc Director Craig Kerslake has published a manifesto of his ideas around belonging to Country and designing from Country in the Architecture Bulletin
Insight
Reconciliation—a Shared Journey
DesignInc Sydney is thrilled to announce the launch of our first ‘Innovate’ Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP), committing to practical actions to strengthen relationships, create mutual respect improve the opportunities for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and communities.
Insight
DesignInc Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Architecture Scholarship
We are proud to announce the first donor-funded scholarship supporting an Indigenous Australian student in Western Sydney University’s faculty of Architecture.
UTS—Craig Kerslake Appointed to Indigenous Industry Advisory Board
UTS School of Architecture is pleased to announce that Craig Kerslake, Managing Director of Sydney-based design firm Nguluway DesignInc, has been appointed as an Honorary Industry Fellow and founding member of the DAB Indigenous Industry Advisory Board.
Insight
A Fine Balance—Transport and Infrastructure Projects
Transport infrastructure projects change lives. Yet they are complex to get right, requiring a balance of technical requirements with considerations such as heritage, accessibility, bushfire, landscape, urban and local community contexts.
Vivid Sydney—Designing with Country
As part of Vivid Sydney and National Reconciliation Week 2022, join Craig Kerslake, Alison Page, Kevin O'Brien and Jefa Greenaway for an insightful and important conversation about Designing with Country. Discover how First Nations thinking provides relevant and inspiring ways to shape the built environment and a future Australia.
People
Craig Kerslake
As an architect and proud Wiradjuri man, Craig draws upon his cultural heritage, community and knowledge of Country. He fosters this way of knowing and doing across the team, bringing…
Insight
Celebrating National Reconciliation Week 2022
National Reconciliation Week is an important part of the annual calendar for the DesignInc Sydney and Nguluway DesignInc studios. In 2022 we hosted a range of internal and external events to encourage our team to deepen their understanding of reconciliation on a personal and professional level, and to contribute to the broader conversation around reconciliation in the design industry.
Projects
Nguluway DesignInc—University of Technology (UTS) Indigenous Residential College
Nguluway DesignInc—Aunty’s House
Nguluway DesignInc—Tubba-gah Wiradjuri Keeping Place
Towradgi Station Upgrade
Nguluway DesignInc—Wilpena Pound Entry Precinct
