What should you look for when buying an apartment and what makes apartment living great?

Join architect Jimmy Thompson (MJA), Melbourne developer Liam Wallis (HIP V. HYPE) and long-time apartment dweller Steph McGann (GAWA) to explore designing and living in apartments. What makes a good apartment, and what are the red flags? Should you buy an existing apartment, or off the plan? What are the questions to ask?

Whether a single, a couple or a family, you’ll leave with valuable insights on how to make decisions based on your lifestyle and budget, and hacks for living well in smaller spaces.

Concession tickets available
Students and concession card holders can use the code FDWCONCESSION for 20% off tickets. For mob, use the code MOBTIX for a 50% discount.

Image: Ferrars & York, enabled by HIP V. HYPE, designed in collaboration with Six Degrees Architects, built by Ironside. Photography by Tess Kelly.

Jimmy Thompson

Jimmy Thompson is the Design Director at MJA Studio, a leading architecture practice with offices in Perth and Melbourne that has won numerous awards for its multi-residential developments.

Jimmy has transformed the practice’s approach to design and has overseen significant growth in the scale of the studio and the complexity of projects it undertakes.

Jimmy seeks design solutions that respond to local context, heritage and environment in a way that incorporates a sense of whimsy and delight for the people who occupy them. 

Above all Jimmy truly gives a damn about the ability of Architecture to have a positive effect on its occupants and the communities that surrounds it.  

Stephanie McGann

Steph McGann is a writer and editor, with a background in design editorial, journalism, and educational publishing. She is currently Design Advocacy and Communication Officer at the Office of the Government Architect Western Australia. She was formerly an Assistant Editor for Architecture Australia and Houses magazines, and has worked in the national brand and communications team for multidisciplinary design practice Hames Sharley.

A long-time apartment dweller, she has seen how design is impactful on the cultivation of home and community in apartment buildings.

Liam Wallis

Founder and Managing Director of HIP V. HYPE, Liam is a creative entrepreneur, driven by a desire to use business as a tool to create a better, more resilient, prosperous world for all. Having studied science, Japanese, architecture & property at the University of Melbourne, and architecture at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts, all whilst working on construction sites, Liam values a multidisciplinary approach to problem solving, value creation and project delivery.