Alison Cox & Yaara Plaves | Adelaide Autumn 2024

Our conversationalists for this episode are Yaara Plaves and Alison Cox. Yaara is Head of Sustainability at Hames Sharley, contributing to leadership in sustainability locally and on a national scale. At the time of recording, Alison was Investment Design Coordinator at TAFE NSW, specialising in accessibility and inclusion in architecture, with a focus on educational environments. She also led advocacy efforts for changes to the National Construction Code to allow the provision of all-gender bathrooms under the NCC 2025. 

This is a compelling conversation between two dedicated advocates, driven by their desire to make meaningful change around inclusive design and sustainability. 

Alison shares her passion for inclusivity and the need to push people to go beyond minimum compliance and tick box exercises. She connects the concept of dignity to good, thoughtful design and highlights the importance of prioritising people with lived experience. Yaara describes her lifelong commitment to sustainability and regenerative design, and the way she communicates its value to clients. 
They share their advocacy tips – from the power of persistence and the need to navigate pushback, to finding the right levers for each person on each particular day. Both Alison and Yaara are strong believers in the strength of collaboration and close-knit teams, and the need to bring generosity, reciprocity and respect into projects.

For anyone wanting to make change in the world, this is a must-listen.

This episode was recorded live on Kaurna Country at the 2024 Adelaide Spring Salon. Held at the Australian Institute of Architects SA chapter office on 27 March 2024, the Salon was organised by Alison McFadyen.

We hope you enjoy Parlour POD, live recordings from our much loved Seasonal Salon series. For more great Parlour content, head to our website, and follow Parlour on Instagram or LinkedIn. To support our ongoing work, join the Parlour Collective!