About

Design Excellence Network is a group of architects, urban designers and landscape architects from local government with a focus on supporting and promoting good design for the built environment. The purpose of the group is to advance the value and delivery of Design Excellence in all aspects of the built environment within local government in Victoria.

Committee

Design Excellence Network is managed by a volunteer committee that organise the various events and communication.

Munir Vahanvati
President

City Designer
Darebin City Council

Yogeshwari Biju

Yogeshwari Biju
Vice President

Coordinator Placemaking & Revitalisation
City of Greater Dandenong

Tim D'Agostino

Tim D'Agostino
Advocacy

Unit Manager Urban Design & Placemaking
City of Whittlesea

Richard Liu

Richard Liu
Advocacy

Senior Urban Designer
City of Casey

Lavanya Arulanandam

Shwiti Ravishankar
Outreach

Principal Urban Designer
City of Greater Geelong

Nico Chahín Atallah

Nico Chahín Atallah
Communications

Acting Senior Urban Designer
City of Melbourne

Chaitali Bhanushali

Chaitali Bhanushali
Communications

Urban Designer
City of Port Phillip

Mitch Gow

Mitch Gow
Events

Urban Designer
City of Melbourne

Join the network

Joining the network is FREE for local government designers. Please fill out the form below to join the mailing list.*Please use your official Council email address only. Members without Council email address will be removed automatically.

Get in touch

Network charter

Purpose

To advance the value and delivery of Design Excellence in all aspects of the built environment within Local Government in Victoria.

Objectives

  • Develop a shared understanding of the role of Design Excellence in local government.

  • Provide a support network for built environment design professionals advancing and delivering and celebrating Design Excellence in local government.

  • Share knowledge on overcoming the challenges in implementing Design Excellence in local government.

  • Develop and share Design Excellence resources.

  • Advocate for enhanced design quality and discussions.

Key activities

  • Networking events - Online and face to face forums for collaboration

  • Presentations - different councils sharing Design Excellence initiatives and key lessons learned

  • Communications - Seek buy-in from key stakeholders

  • 'Design Talks' - national and international guest speakers to tap into the knowledge and learn from global and national best practice

  • Site visits - places, spaces and buildings that demonstrate Design Excellence

  • Advocacy - at various events and forums eg: Melbourne Design Week, conferences, etc.