Margaret Leonie Edmond (née Suchestow; born 11 June 1946) is an Australian architect.

Education and formative years

As a child, Edmond's family lived in houses designed by notable Australian architects—the Bridgeford House in Black Rock, designed by Robin Boyd in 1953; and the Quamby apartments in

South Yarra South Yarra is an inner-city suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 4 km south-east of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the Cities of Melbourne and Stonnington local government areas. South Yarra recorded a populati ...

, designed by

Roy Grounds Sir Roy Burman Grounds (18 December 1905 – 2 March 1981) was an Australian architect. His early work included buildings influenced by the Moderne movement of the 1930s, and his later buildings of the 1950s and 1960s, such as the National G ...

. She has reflected on this upbringing, noting that "from a very early age I was aware that houses I had lived in differed from those of my friends". Edmond studied architecture at

University of Melbourne The University of Melbourne (colloquially known as Melbourne University) is a public university, public research university located in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1853, it is Australia's second oldest university and the oldest in the state ...

alongside her first husband, landscape architect Robin Edmond (1943—2008). She completed her Bachelor of Architecture in 1969.

Career

In 1974, she formed a partnership with her husband Peter Corrigan to create the

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

-based architectural firm

Edmond and Corrigan Edmond and Corrigan is an Australian architectural firm based in Melbourne, Victoria, founded in the late 1970s by partners Maggie Edmond and Peter Corrigan, the firm's principals. The practice's work, both built and written, has been widely a ...

. She remains a principal of the firm, and manages and presents much of the work. She was described by Neil Clerehan as "probably the nation's foremost female architect". The first published projects of

—the Edinburgh Gardens Pavilion (design completed 1977) and Patford House (design completed 1975) in Fitzroy—were developed by Edmond alone. Edmond became a member of the

Deakin University Deakin University is a public university in Victoria, Australia. Founded in 1974 with antecedent history since 1887, the university was named after Alfred Deakin, the second Prime Minister of Australia and a founding father of Australian Fede ...

Council in 1999, acting as Deputy Chancellor from 2004 to 2007. She sits as chairperson of Deakin University's Campus Planning Committee. In 2014, Edmond sat on the jury of the Houses Awards—an annual program to award Australia's best residential architecture projects.

Awards and honours

Australian civil honours

Edmond was appointed a

Member of the Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an Australian honours and awards system, Australian honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Monarch ...

in the

2024 Australia Day Honours The 2024 Australia Day Honours are appointments to various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by Australian citizens. The list was announced on 26 January 2024 by the Governor General of Australia, David Hurley. The Australi ...

for her "significant service to architecture, to tertiary education, and to professional organisations".

Academic honours

Maggie Edmond was awarded an honorary Doctor of Architecture by the

on 21 March 2015.

Architecture honours

In 2001, she was awarded a Life Fellowship by the

RAIA The Australian Institute of Architects, officially the Royal Australian Institute of Architects (abbreviated as RAIA), is Australia's professional body for architects. Its members use the post-nominals FRAIA (Fellow), ARAIA (Associate Member) an ...

. In 2023 she was recognised by the Victorian Chapter of the Institute of Architects with the Enduring Architecture Award becoming the named award, the

Maggie Edmond Enduring Architecture Award The Maggie Edmond Enduring Architecture Award is an architecture prize presented annually at the Victorian Architecture Awards by the Victorian Chapter of the Australian Institute of Architects (AIA) since 2003. The award recognises long lastin ...

, of which she won the inaugural award in 2003 for the 1978 Chapel of St Joseph. In 2023 Edmond was awarded the

Australian Institute of Architects Gold Medal The Australian Institute of Architects Gold Medal is the highest individual award of the Australian Institute of Architects, awarded annually since 1960. The award was created to recognise distinguished service by Australian architects who have: ...

, her name added 20 years after the same award was presented to her partner Peter Corrigan in 2003. At the 2023 National Awards she described the correction as 'restorative'.

Personal life

Edmond is the daughter of Melbourne fashion designer Linda Suchestow.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Edmond, Maggie 1946 births Living people Australian women architects Members of the Order of Australia Architects from Melbourne Place of birth missing (living people) 20th-century Australian architects 21st-century Australian architects Recipients of the Royal Australian Institute of Architects’ Gold Medal 20th-century Australian women 21st-century Australian women Academic staff of Deakin University University of Melbourne alumni