Hassell’s Perth principal Sophie Bond is an architect who is optimistic about the future of the industry and the current crop of early-career designers. It’s that attitude that persuaded her to join Australian Design Review‘s 30UNDER30 as a judge and mentor for the 2026/2027 cohort.

Bond says she’s particularly encouraged by emerging designers who are showing an innate understanding that a punishing working hours schedule, which has long been almost synonymous with the profession, isn’t helpful. And that success can be achieved via a different mindset that also prioritises having a full life outside of work.

Australian Design Review: What was the big drawcard for you when you were approached to join 30UNDER30 as a mentor and judge this year?

Sophie Bond: I think I’ve always been really passionate about having a very inclusive and diverse industry. And more than anything, I’m looking forward to the cohort actually getting to know each other. I mean, these are all really, really talented individuals. And I find that when you do bring a group of people like that together, something sort of magical happens and the energy amplifies and it’s really amazing to see. So I hope they get a lot from the mentors, but, more than anything, I’m really excited to watch that talented group of individuals build this network with each other that I hope will continue to grow with them as they go throughout their careers.

So far, that seems to be the way it’s working. The feedback we get is that they keep on catching up and they’ve built those peer-to-peer relationships, which is fantastic.

I still catch up with my cohort from some of my early mentoring years, and it really is something that grows with you and becomes this really trusted group of people as both friends and colleagues that you can call on for advice. It’s important.

Other than seeing those bonds created and nurtured, what else are you’re looking forward to with the program?

I’m really excited to see these people start to view themselves not just as talented designers, but as future leaders and watching them make that transition from being an emerging professional to somebody that’s transitioning into that leadership space, and how programs like this can give them the scaffolding and the confidence to do that.

It’s a really important transition. And around this 30UNDER30 age is where, unfortunately, we see a lot of attrition in design as well. Particularly in architecture for women, after about the age of 27, we watch people start leaving the industry. And that is an absolute tragedy from my perspective. I’m really focused on supporting people through long and rewarding careers. And I think programs like this that give people the tools they need to view their career as a long-term proposition and stick with it for the long haul is something I’m really passionate about.

That attrition, do you think that’s purely through having families or are there other reasons? Is it a pay gap issue?

I think that there are a lot of reasons that are beyond just having children. It certainly doesn’t help, but it is a challenging profession in a lot of ways. And it’s a very, very rewarding profession. One of the questions we are going to talk about is: what sort of advice would you give people about the design industry? I think, from my own perspective, design will take as much of your time as you’re willing to give it. Often, early in our careers, we’re really willing to give it an awful lot, because we care so much about the projects that we’re working on.

So reminding young designers to view their careers as really long-term propositions is key towards managing retention through what I hope will be really long and rewarding careers. I want them to pace themselves. I want them to protect their time and their space that they need to think and be creative and have ideas. And careers are long. I don’t like seeing anyone burn out and leave the industry before they’ve had a chance to come and reach their full potential. I remember one of my mentors always used to say to me, “It’s a marathon, not a sprint.” And that advice has really stuck with me. It makes more and more sense to me as I go on.

One of the presentations at the Creative Retreat is about sustaining a long career, and we also have one about self-care and the science of self-care, so that you don’t burn out. But you mentioned your own mentors a couple of times then. Can you elaborate on what sort of mentorship you have had in the past?

Absolutely. I think I’ve been very lucky to have mentoring both within my current company, Hassell, but also externally. I was really passionate about diversity with the NAWIC (National Association for Women in Construction) for many years. I served as the vice president for a long time. I’ve been involved with its programs both as a mentee and a mentor. One of my mentors was actually a civil engineer and that perspective was really enlightening – having somebody that was slightly connected to your industry, but with a slightly left field take on things, was really valuable.

I think that’s one of the great successes of the 30UNDER30 program is that you can offer those sort of external mentors that bring a wider industry lens, a different perspective, and can also talk about the value of having internal company sponsors and advocates, which are really important for your career decisions and progression. But the external mentoring is a really valuable proposition that this program does very well.

What sort of practical advice would you give to the cohort?

Oh, it’s such a difficult question. I’ve tried not to come with a huge preconceived idea about what I want to talk about. I do want to be an open book. I want to respond to any of the questions that they have – to listen, and give them the advice they find most useful. But what I have found in previous mentoring relationships is often they don’t particularly want to talk about design or the specifics of a project.

They’re often coming to me with questions about ‘what does it feel like to be one of the younger leaders in a room?’ or ‘how do you manage your job with a young family?’ I’ve got two kids and I work full-time. ‘How do you lead a large team with differing perspectives?’ And there are a lot of questions around how to build confidence in developing and communicating their own design ideas.

My feeling is that, with our young talent, they often know what they’re good at. They’re the people that bring the spark. They don’t need me to help them with the spark. What they usually need is help and advice around how to build the sort of scaffolding around it, so that they can grow it and articulate it and communicate their ideas with confidence, and understand how to build connections in the industry so that they can have greater impact. That’s where I find I’m having more conversations.

One of the things that traditionally designers and architects have said to me is that the thing they struggle with is the business side, because they know how to design, but were not taught those other practical skills. Is that something that comes up or is it not so relevant in a larger practice like Hassell?

I think it’s relevant to everyone and I’m really, really interested that you said that, because another of the questions is what is missing from design education? That was honestly going to be my answer. I also sit on the Curtin Architecture Advisory Board and we talk a lot around the lack of business acumen. I think traditionally there’s been this idea that somehow business skills and design skills are at odds with each other.

Actually I think they’re really complementary, regardless of whether you’re in a small practice or a large practice. Teaching designers how to run successful businesses helps them value themselves. It helps them advocate for the value of design and the work they’re doing. It helps them create value for their clients. And we need our designers to build resilient practices where good design can flourish.

So business skills shouldn’t be shied away from as part of the design conversation.

One of the most interesting people I have spoken to in this regard was David Gianotten from Rem Koolhaas’ OMA because he actually studied business at the same time as studying architecture.

He’s a great speaker, isn’t he? [That business acumen] creates the platform that enables us to do more and better design. It makes sense. We’re actually advocating for that to be included within some of the university architecture courses currently.

That’s good! What excites you about the next generation of designers that you see coming through?

Oh, so much. I think one of the things is they’ve got a much stronger sense of being quite socially minded. They’re very focused on wellbeing. They’re very conscious of the environment and cultural consequences of design. And I don’t think they’re willing to separate the quality of the design outcome from the way that it was produced.

They also have this nice sense, I think, of an inherent understanding that a rewarding career should be able to co-exist with a full life and having other things go on. They’re willing to question some of those inherited ways of working that we may have accepted around long hours. And they question whether there can be a better way from the outset.

I’m really confident that this new generation of designers will improve the work that we produce, but also the culture of the profession, which I think will then start to inform some of the issues around attrition by creating a more sustainable profession through more sustainable and balanced hours of working.

I think that we’re going to see more people continue to participate in the profession for a much longer time. And I’m really, really positive about that perspective that they’re bringing.

Is there anything in the industry that you feel you should be warning emerging designers about or challenges on the horizon?

This is really that point around the protecting your energy around the long work hours culture. I have to say, I’ve seen it improve a lot, even in the last few years. We have a sustainable hours of work policy that’s totally transformed the sorts of hours that we’re seeing people put in.

Beyond that, I don’t think I have a warning about the industry as such. I have found it to be actually a really supportive and creative place. The only danger with any profession that you do out of love and passion is sometimes that you can put so much into it. You just need to make sure you’re getting as much back out of it, because it’s an incredibly rewarding industry to work in. And I feel really lucky to be one of the people that, this far into my career, can say that I honestly still really love my job.

The fact that I still get to work on the projects that I work on and work with the people I work with, it’s a privilege.

How wonderful! And what about the tools and the technology on the horizon?

It’s interesting, isn’t it? There’s a lot that’s changing in terms of the methods of design, but I think there’s also a lot that’s the same. The curiosity and the ambition is still there and whether that’s initially communicated through the hand sketch of a senior practitioner, who has years and years of judgement and intuition built into this little five-minute scribble, that then gets passed over to an emerging designer, who probably finds a fresh perspective and new ways of testing and communicating that with whichever new technology platform they’re starting to work in, I think the ambition is shared and it’s just the methods that continue to change along the way.

We’re all constantly learning in this profession. That never changes, no matter how senior you are in your career. We’re all on the same journey. Some of us are at different points along it and the tools change, but it’s about making sure that whatever the tool happens to be at the time, whether it’s a pen or whether it’s an AI render, that you are in control of the tool. It’s not the tool designing for itself.

That makes a lot of sense. Are you mostly working on projects in WA?

My projects are all based in WA at the moment, but they do involve east coast team members.

And is there plenty of work in Perth at the moment?

It feels busy, definitely. There are some really exciting local projects on the horizon. I find in Perth and being in Hassell for as long as I have, being across different sectors means that when one sector’s a little bit quiet, another one may be going more strongly. And the fact that we do have the national practice means that we can be allocating resources across the need nationally, which gives us a lot of confidence and stability.

There’s a real energy and excitement in the studio at the moment about the work that’s coming up. It’s a really good pipeline. You can tell when the buzz is there because people are working on great projects and that brings a little bit of optimism and energy that’s definitely felt across the practice, even if you’re not the one that’s specifically working on those projects.

Finally, what do you personally hope to get out of being involved in 30UNDER30?

Yes, every mentor always says that they get as much out of it as the mentees, and I do think that’s true. It’s incredibly rewarding and energising. And, on a personal level, you leave feeling reconnected with the sort of enthusiasm that took you into the design profession in the first instance.

On a practical level, one of the things that’s really useful is hearing about the challenges and opportunities from these emerging designers firsthand. It does give me a real perspective on what I need to do as a leader to make sure that I’m continuing to support them. Getting that sort of feedback about what they care about, what they need from me, and what I can do to help them as an individual, but also as a group, is an incredibly valuable perspective to have.

Entries for the 2026/2027 30UNDER30 program are now open and close on Sunday 4 October. Click here for more information.

ADR’s 30UNDER30 program is brought to you by co-major sponsors Neolith and King Living, alongside partners Designer Rugs, LAUFEN, Krost, Miele, Signature Appliances powered by Miele and Tongue & Groove.

ADR is also grateful to our 30UNDER30 practice partners AJC Architects, BLP, BVN, Cera Stribley, COX Architecture, Design by WBL, DKO, Genton, GroupGSA, Gray Puksand, Hare + Klein, Hassell, HDR, Lawless & Meyerson, Luchetti Krelle, Made For, Mim Design, Richards Stanisich, RIZEN Atelier, Rothelowman, SJB, T. Black and Tom Mark Henry for helping us foster the future of Australian design.

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