Laura Harding facts for kids

Laura Harding is an Australian architect and a critic. She designs buildings and city spaces, especially places for everyone to use, like parks and public squares. Laura also writes about architecture and helps people understand it better.

She helps teach architecture students at the University of New South Wales and the University of Sydney. From 2006 to 2012, she even taught with a famous architect named Glenn Murcutt.

About Laura Harding

Laura was born in Sydney in 1975. She studied architecture at the University of Sydney. She earned her first degree in architecture in 1995 and another in 1998.

Since 1996, Laura has worked at a design company called Hill Thalis Architecture + Urban Projects in Sydney. She started there as a student and has been there for eighteen years.

Designing Buildings and Cities

Laura's work includes designing buildings and planning city areas. She often focuses on apartment buildings and city projects.

One of her cool projects is called Substation No. 175. She helped turn an old power station building in Surry Hills into a "tiny urban tower." This project showed that even very small pieces of land can be used in a smart way.

Laura was also a main urban designer for a big international design contest. This was for a place called East Darling Harbour, now known as Barangaroo. Her team proposed new streets, a waterfront park, and a fresh look for the area. Even though their plan wasn't built, it was a very important design.

Cool Projects Laura Worked On

Here are some other interesting projects Laura worked on with Hill Thalis Architecture + Urban Projects:

• Crystal Housing: This project turned an old factory building into seven affordable homes. It's a great example of reusing old buildings.
• Lennox Bridge Portals: This project helped connect different parts of the city around the historic Lennox Bridge in Parramatta. It showed off the old layers of the bridge.
• Studios 54: This building in Surry Hills has one shop and four apartments. It was designed to add life and energy to the city. It won an award in 2015 from the Australian Institute of Architects.
• Mountainside House: This holiday house is on a beautiful mountainside. It's designed to connect with the landscape and can be opened or closed in different ways.
• Horizon House: This is another holiday house located by the coast.
• Little Bay Master Plan: This plan was for a large residential area. It aimed to connect the site back to the city and keep important natural features as parks.
• Green Square Library competition: Laura worked on a design proposal for the Green Square Library.

Public Activities

In 2011, Laura was a judge for the Public Architecture and Urban Design awards. These awards are given by the NSW Chapter of the Australian Institute of Architects.

Awards She Has Won

• Adrian Ashton Award for Architectural Criticism, 2013, from the Australian Institute of Architects NSW Awards.
• Commendation, Australian Institute of Architects NSW Chapter Award for Multi-residential Architecture (2005).
• NSW Master Builders Award for Adaptive Reuse (2005).