Founded nearly fifty years ago by demographers, geographers, urbanists, researchers, architects and designers; interdisciplinary design practice Hames Sharley is proud to announce a series of internal promotions from its national team.
The announcement pays tribute to the collective depth of experience and diversity of talent within the practice and around the country, says Managing Director Caillin Howard.
“These promotions are only made possible by the commitment and contribution of our people, our greatest assets. It is fantastic to award these team members who have grasped the opportunities they have earned and have gone above and beyond to enable our communities to flourish,” he said.
“We take great pride in recognising their commitment, not only for positioning our business for future growth but also their contribution to the broader industry and the communities they impact.”
Directors
Noreen Byrne
As a qualified geologist, Noreen offers a diverse professional career, which includes extensive experience on the Western Australian gold fields working on long-term mapping and exploration projects. She brings her scientific rigour and expertise to Hames Sharley, where she is continuing to drive a transformative approach focused on the life cycle of both the business and its people, strong focus on ESG, and advancing diversity, inclusion and women’s leadership within the organisation.
“When culture aligns with the business model, you create an environment where people choose to be, not just work. That’s what we’re building upon at Hames Sharley. It’s a place where passion and purpose thrive,” Noreen says.
Rehana Ghouze
With over 30 years’ global experience across all facets of finance, Rehana brings expertise in management, cost and financial accounting, along with her skills in handling both front- and back-office finance operations. Having worked across diverse industries and managed teams across continents, Rehana is an accomplished leader with a global perspective.
At Hames Sharley, she combines her mix of strategic and operational experience to strengthen financial processes, supporting the team’s goals and paying it forward by helping the business grow sustainably. She believes that, while finance should be a driver of growth and efficiency, success is not just about the numbers.
“Being a successful finance leader means combining strong technical skills with clear communication and collaboration. It’s about supporting teams, solving challenges and aligning financial goals with the company’s vision – in our case, enabling communities to flourish,” she says.
Associate Directors
Kate Hogan Gillies
Kate is an exceptional interior designer with over 20 years of industry experience delivering projects locally and internationally across all scales. Kate leverages her expertise in the workplace sector, elevating the strong pipeline of interiors work across the eastern seaboard with her special focus on inclusive and sensory design.
From the Sydney studio, her role at Hames Sharley aligns perfectly with her personal values and design ethos. She believes in design for all, not just some, and a people-first approach where listening, curiosity and empathy inform everything, from the first client brief to the first project team lunch to the final handover.
“I believe that spaces are the most satisfying when they feel authentic and there are moments of delight. I derive enormous satisfaction from seeing people love a space, feel connected to it and see themselves reflected in it,” Kate says.
Rob Corcoran
Rob has exceptional local and international expertise in design and construction. Strengthening Hames Sharley’s vision for the practice, he is an industry heavy hitter across the retail and mixed-use space.
More recently, he has focused on creating communities with a mix of retail, BTS and BTR in the inner suburbs around Melbourne. He believes that long-term success is about delivering solutions that work for everybody, from inception to completion.
“We’re better as a collaborative team with active engagement and buy-in from everyone at the table from the very start – that’s how we create great communities and spaces that make their lives better,” Rob says.
Richard Morrell
Richard is Hames Sharley’s Sport & Recreation Portfolio Leader, driving the busy pipeline of sport and recreation projects across the business. He also leverages the practice’s collective national sports experience and interdisciplinary talent, elevating projects across Australia as the evolution of sports infrastructure continues to create exciting opportunities.
He believes it’s an exciting time for sport in Australia, and Hames Sharley is diversifying its portfolio to reflect the next generation of facilities to support the changing ways to play, watch and engage in sport and entertainment.
“While we are all passionate about sport in different ways we share one goal – to create great outcomes that foster connection to people and culture. Together, we are excited to lead by example with a range of diverse sport projects that are part of this great evolution,” Richard says.
Mark Claydon
Mark is a valuable team member within the Office & Industrial portfolio – his contribution has grown so that he is now recognised as an effective and trusted 2IC. His leadership and acumen in data centres and the industrial space are well recognised and valued by clients, JV partners and builders, as well as the HS teams he leads.
Over the past two years, Mark has developed his career with significant responsibilities including client management, project leadership and working across various projects ranging from commercial offices to data centres. He continues to grow his acumen in business development for this portfolio.
Senior Associate
Brigid Salter
Brigid exemplifies the values and behaviours of Hames Sharley, where she consistently places the practice first in everything she undertakes. As the leader of the Interiors team in Perth, Brigid’s knowledge of and contribution to the portfolio has resulted in its steady and consistent growth.
Over the past 12 months, Brigid has rapidly improved her project management skills while also spending a considerable amount of time mentoring and working with less-experienced team members to develop their skills and careers. Trusted and valued, Brigid provides a calming influence over the studio and has excellent working relationships leaders and team members.
Associates
Joanna Latoska
Joanna exhibits a high standard of technical leadership, holding herself and her teams to the highest standards of documentation. She allows time for one-on-one teaching with graduates, where she leads documentation teams and exceeds expectations on various projects in Adelaide. She is extremely passionate about implementing new documentation standards and extends her expertise to interstate projects regularly, bringing the same passion and rigour to every project.
Joanna is also a highly trusted team member. She has created processes of communication to ensure she and her teams are productive while working remotely from each other. She represents Hames Sharley well through her knowledge and technical ability, resulting in high praise from clients.
Despina Rossides
Despina works from Hames Sharley’s Darwin studio within the Defence, Health, and Retail & Town Centres portfolios. She is highly skilled in running multiple projects across portfolios where she achieves everything required to an extremely high standard. As a result, she has developed close professional relationships with all client groups she works with, and in particular, is seen as a trusted advisor delivering Defence projects.
Despina is highly respected by colleagues and clients alike, and is always generous with her time contributing to the studio’s culture. She embodies Hames Sharley’s values and sets a great example as a leader within the studio.
Paris Jacobs
Paris works within the Health and Retail & Town Centres portfolios. A problem-solver, relationship builder and highly sought-after resource and team member, Paris embodies an ‘all hands-on deck’ approach from project leading to deliverables and lends her skills to all work with passion and impact. Paris is also a mentor for other team members and will often step in and assist anyone where and when required.
Since joining Hames Sharley in 2019, Paris has been involved in all project stages and phases. She’s passionate about seeing every detail or decision made in the early design stages manifest on site and always follows through on the vision for the project and building. She works well with all team members and takes an innovative approach. Paris will always walk the extra ten miles to ensure that Hames Sharley delivers each project.
Jason Lenard-Smith
Jason joined the Hames Sharley Perth studio as a Senior Architect in 2022 and has made an immediate and positive impact on the team. Since then, he’s worked across various projects and portfolios as a key member of large teams, as well as designing and delivering projects on his own.
He relocated to Melbourne in 2023 for six months and extended his stay for a year but continued to work for the Hames Sharley Perth studio. During his stay in Melbourne, he went above and beyond stepping up to become the key client manager and project lead across various facilities on the NextDC data centre projects. He enjoys spending time with less experienced team members too, with his promotion a testament to his work and his strong standing at Hames Sharley.
Nicole Stanton
Nicole joined Hames Sharley’s Sydney studio in 2020, where she consistently demonstrates Hames Sharley’s values, achievements and contributions. She has high career aspirations and experience helping to win projects within the Retail & Town Centres, Education, Science & Research, and Office & Industrial portfolio.
Genuinely interested in the success of others, Nicole displays excellent potential for future leadership. She contributes socially and culturally to the team, and is a member of Hames Sharley’s Champions of Change committee. She’s trusted, driven and shows excellent insight with the ability to ask the right questions at the right time, while also being willing to support team members and share her knowledge. Nicole is an exemplary architect with a bright future.
Peter Le
Based in the Sydney studio, Peter predominantly works within the Retail & Town Centres portfolio but has demonstrated exemplary all-round capability since he joined Hames Sharley in 2021. His can-do, positive attitude means that team members enjoy being around him, while his performance and manner have also been instrumental to him winning projects for the practice.
He has taken on a significant role in the leadership of a $120 million project and managed stakeholder relationships with excellent outcomes and potential future work. A clear communicator with a willingness to collaborate with and support staff at all levels, Peter regularly contributes to the team. He enjoys mentoring and has trained the team on everything from Revit to the studio’s coffee machine.