Scholarship recipients gather to greet UK donor

The scholarship is a memorial to the late John Fitzgerald, an alumnus (1997) of Te Herenga Waka—Victoria University of Wellington’s School of Architecture, who moved to London and took up a position at Holden Harper. After his passing, his former employer initiated the scholarship alongside John’s parents Mike and Norva, from contributions raised from colleagues, clients, friends, and family in both the UK and New Zealand.

Now, more than 20 years since the scholarship was first awarded in 2001, Richard Holden took the opportunity to return to Te Aro campus to meet some of the recipients and staff, including Professor Robyn Phipps, Dean of Te Wāhanga Waihanga-Hoahoa—Wellington Faculty of Architecture and Design Innovation, and reminisce about John’s time at Holden Harper.

Richard paints a picture of a bright, reliable, and talented young architect, whose life was cut tragically short.

“My connection with New Zealand is through mostly rugby and cricket, and that's how John came to work for us,” Richard says, sporting the conspicuous red, blue, and silver striped suit of the London New Zealand Cricket Club.

“John had a very good friend Michael who I played cricket with, and when he learnt that I was an architect and John was looking for a job, that's how we met. John was a fantastic person, and a very good architect.”

Richard recalls visiting Te Aro campus to present the scholarship to the inaugural recipients, Jeremy Joseph and Pamela Bell, both of whom have gone on to have illustrious careers in architecture. Jeremy Joseph is an Associate at Warren and Mahoney in Auckland, while Pamela Bell was recently appointed Chief Executive of the New Zealand Institute of Building and has returned to Te Herenga Waka—Victoria University of Wellington as an Adjunct Professor.

Amongst the attendees was the current (2023) recipient of the John Fitzgerald Memorial Scholarship, Hannah Brodie, a Master of Architecture (Professional) student entering her fifth year. Hannah says it means a lot to receive a scholarship in honour of another student.

“Being able to remember him and continue that legacy is so beautiful. [The scholarship] will really help me to fully immerse myself in my studies and allow me to create and establish the architecture I want to do this year without limitations.”

Hannah looks forward to a future career in architecture.

“It would be amazing to go straight into the architecture industry. I'm very interested in going to the UK as well, so this is such a beautiful connection to have.”

2017 recipient Faeze Yavari was happy to have the opportunity to thank Richard in person. Faeze graduated with a PhD in Architecture in 2019 and her university research has remained relevant throughout her career.

“My PhD research explores housing alternatives for the aging NZ population, particularly the acceptability of converting existing houses to make them accessible and more age-friendly, as a means of aging in place in well designed and easy to heat and maintain converted homes.

As part of the scholarship, Faeze spent two weeks in the UK meeting scholars in the field of housing for the aging population, including architect Sarah Wigglesworth, a former Professor of Architecture at the University of Sheffield. Faeze met Sarah in London to discuss Sarah’s cross-disciplinary design research project DWELL (Designing for Wellbeing in Environments for Later Life), a project focused on “environments for older people that keep them connected, healthy and mobile.”

Now, in her position as Principal Accessibility Advisor at Kainga Ora, Faeze can put this experience into practice supporting her team to renew their accessibility policy.

“It’s a real opportunity to make a tangible difference in public housing and to contribute to the continued improvement of accessibility in New Zealand.”

James Hanson, the 2021 recipient and Master of Architecture (Professional) graduate, was also in attendance. James is now a Digital Engineer at Downer Construction.

“I love learning about what happens before the buildings are built,” he says. “It's a process that starts beneath the ground. I also get to learn about the way people move, and New Zealand public transport, all that sort of stuff. It’s pretty cool.”

James says he is grateful for the opportunities that the scholarship provided.

“The scholarship was fantastic in supporting me and my family in terms of getting through that final year of university. It led to site trips and site visits that I was able to do to enhance my thesis for which I’m really grateful.”

The John Fitzgerald Memorial Scholarship is open to an architecture student in their fourth year of study or higher, with priority given to projects that are forward-looking and reflect the architectural interests of John Fitzgerald.