Careers
Lovell Chen offers the chance to work with some of the best minds in their fields in the country, on groundbreaking projects that are helping shape the physical environment and regulatory control regimes. From building design and adaptation to landscape analysis, Passive House design to meticulous restoration work, heritage policy development to strategy planning for major sites — the possibilities are many and varied. Our team includes talented support staff, including office management, graphic design and knowledge services specialists.
— Team members are from a wide range of culturally diverse backgrounds, with a broad mix of skills
— We work in a friendly, open plan office: the work is serious — but we have fun too!
— We support individual needs and offer a range of flexible work arrangements
— The senior staff are accessible to all
— Team members are covered under our income protection insurance for a range of situations
— We provide opportunities for ongoing professional development, helping you broaden your abilities in architecture, conservation or heritage
— We assist our registered architects to reach their CPD requirements, and we run CPD programmes in all relevant fields
— In some circumstances, we support further academic studies
You can also explore the nation’s heritage footprint, inside and out! Many of our staff are engaged in on-site activities. In addition, we hold regular events, lectures, excursions, etc., providing the chance to participate in the cultural life of the wider community.
Applications for listed vacancies, as well as general careers enquiries, should be addressed to our Practice Manager (see below). Your application should include your CV and a covering letter outlining your experience, as well as your contact details. Please do not send more than five A4 sheets. Video submissions are accepted.
We regret that we cannot reply to every application received.
Send your documentation to:
Practice Manager, Lovell Chen : practicemanager@lovellchen.com.au
Meet …
Owen is an architecture intern — working a four day week while he completes his masters degree. In about a year, he will join us full time. He loves the design side of architecture but in first year at university, it was the history subjects that he felt to be most fruitful. He started to wonder if he could combine the two … by working in conservation, perhaps.
In Lovell Chen he feels he found a great balance between design and heritage: “Lovell Chen has an optimistic approach to both fields, and a way of navigating that space — recontextualising the principles of an original building design and bringing it into the modern world.”
As it happens, Owen’s father works in remedial construction and has worked alongside Lovell Chen on facade restoration projects. So when our name came up during his studies, he was familiar with it. When it came time to arrange an internship, he already knew that the practice was his first choice.
“As far as hands-on experience and practical knowledge goes, and a real understanding of how the industry works, Lovell Chen is the best position for an intern.” (Now we’re blushing!) He says, “I feel very lucky”.
Vacancies
Meet …
Clare is a heritage consultant. And she has over 20 years’ experience practicing law and working in insurance claims litigation. “I took a plunge: it was now or never”, she says about the change of direction that enabled her to follow her passion for history and the built environment. She enrolled in Deakin University’s Graduate Diploma of Cultural Heritage & Museum Studies and participated in a work integrated learning placement with Lovell Chen. She joined our ranks while still doing her final subject.
There’s no doubt that her background in law is invaluable to her work with us but it’s new opportunities that interest her most. “I love being part of an organisation that’s really passionate about heritage, focused on where it sits now and the value it has for people.” She points to the collaborative working environment, the wide range of experience and the learning opportunities.
How to succeed in a new role? “You ask questions, draw on your previous work and throw yourself in deeply … that’s what’s needed.”
Pictured : Clare Lewis (at right) and Charlotte Jenkins
Max is very clear. There are two reasons why working at Lovell Chen appeals to him. “In working with built heritage, we inspect and analyse historic fabric in very close detail. It’s such an effective way to learn about the process and sequence of construction.” The second reason touches on his self-confessed nostalgic streak — feeling that he is contributing to the ongoing story of a building, being part of a continuum and playing a part in the bigger picture.
Now a registered architect, he was always interested in heritage. He pinpoints the the moment a maths teacher at primary school taught him perspective drawing as the genesis of this, inspiring him to draw old hotels and country town corner shops.
He encountered Lovell Chen at university, when Peter Lovell and Anne-Marie Treweeke came to talk about the Old Quad project. Attracted by the varying scales and types of project we work on, he decided it was the place to be. “Lovell Chen seemed to have an innate connection to Melbourne and Australia’s heritage.”
Within a week of his interview, he was offered a casual position and within 12 months he was working full time. That was four years ago. He’s now a vital part of the continuum!