Jefa Greenaway is a descendant of the Wailwan / Gamillaraay people, founder and director of Indigenous Architecture Victoria, and currently the only registered Indigenous architect practicing in Victoria.

“It was surprising to find out there were so few indigenous people involved in architecture,” Jefa says. This was the catalyst for him to found Indigenous Architecture Victoria (I.A.V.), an organisation set up to ensure there were people coming through the industry after him.

“Given there are so few in Victoria, we wanted to remedy that situation and to encourage young kids coming through to consider architecture as a profession.”

Every NAIDOC week I.A.V. runs a presentation for the industry, raising awareness of indigenous issues in architecture such as: How one works with community, or how do you project identity through built form? This year (2014) focused specifically on the issue of indigenous housing.

In 2012 I.A.V. undertook the Stone Reconstruction Project, right here at Fed Square…

This involved bringing stones over from Portland in Eastern Victoria, to construct an imagining of how we understand life was lived in this region many years ago.

He says it was a extremely useful exercise because it built awareness, as there’s a lack of knowledge that there were actually permanent structures here in South-East Australia. “Really it’s a climatic thing. Of course there were temporary types of constructions in the tropics, but down south it gets a bit colder, so stone houses make sense!”

Wherever possible Jefa incorporates Indigenous elements into his design. “Working with communities gives me an outlet, whereby I can draw upon cultural considerations and sensitivities, and embed that as part of the design approach.”

“It’s important to respond to culture in a way that isn’t clichéd, stereotypical or patronising, but more subtle and nuanced and weaved through a project”.

For Jefa a lot of the considerations around a project center on place, “How do we appropriately locate something on a site? How do we consider the layers of history that exist on a site? That can occur on any project – for an indigenous community or otherwise,” he says.

He says Melbourne tends to get caught up in history; focusing on heritage protection of a building 80-120 years old, “I like to draw attention to the fact there’s other layers of history there which are much older. How can we give voice to that?”

Jefa’s main aim when setting up his own business, Greenaway Architects, was trying to project who they were as a business. “Telling a story of what you do through your work,” he says.

He nominates some highlights of his career as being winner of the 2011 Dulux Study Tour prize, which took him to Europe and gave him exposure to architecture in other cities. He says it really invigorated his practice, as he “came back with the fire in the belly to do things a little differently and push things a bit harder”.

The same year he was awarded a scholarship to the Inaugural Glenn Murcutt International Architecture Master Class, which he says, “was a real eye-opener”.

“It was like a United Nations of architects, with 33 participants from 25 countries. So any time you sat next to someone you’d be getting a real insight into their culture.

Capping off his list of career highlights so far, Jefa was appointed an ‘Honorary Senior Fellow’ at the University of Melbourne (Faculty of Architecture, Building & Planning) just this year (2014).

Jefa wants Greenaway architects to become a benchmark of how good design can assist Melbourne and beyond and to show there are different perspectives on what architecture can be.

“Invariably no two jobs are alike, which enables you to take every project as a new challenge. You get a sense of how you contribute to improving the lives of others.

A large proportion of work of Greenaway Architects is centered on residential, smaller commercial projects and works for community, so for him is it’s a very personalised experience.

“You are dealing directly with the people who are going to use the project. The payoff is getting to see the expressions on someone’s face when you visit them after you’ve completed a job and they’re beaming and they’re proud to show the project to their friends and family.

“To see how it’s improved the lives of people. That is a major part of why you keep doing it.”

All photos by Shannon McGrath