After more than 40 years since founding GroupGSA — an architecture and design practice working across Australia and Asia — Managing Director Mark Sheldon is handing the reins to his team of four long-serving Directors who are well supported by eight Principals located across Australia and two Principals based in Asia.

Sheldon describes the move as not a changing of the guard but rather a natural evolution and transition. After all, he developed the team over many years to take the practice forward. “When clients entrusted me with their work, I needed the confidence and courage to know I had the right Directors in place to design and deliver their projects, understand their commercial drivers and design excellence imperatives,” Sheldon explains. Those Directors each now oversee specific national disciplines including architecture, interior design, landscape architecture and urban design.

Since the early 2000s, Mark has been ably assisted by Co-Director and architect Michael Mandl — who is set to step back from his full-time position at GroupGSA in favour of a consulting role. Michael describes his approach as akin to Mark’s. “From the outset, I liked that Mark encouraged a collaborative culture and we are aligned in our collegiate, cooperative approach,” Michael said. Streamlining management processes and promoting ongoing learnings across typologies are the hallmarks of Michael’s leadership at GroupGSA.

The future of GroupGSA: Profiling the Directors

The formidable foursome taking over the leadership of GroupGSA all hold significant tenure as Directors. Individually, their talents have equipped them to recognise and respond to client needs, deftly oversee large-scale, complex projects — and manage teams across multiple locations. Together, this leadership collective will now draw upon a great depth of multi-disciplinary skills and experience to deliver the market valuable insights and future-focused design solutions.

From July, Lisa Maree Carrigan, Peter McCamley, John Holland and Nancy Piazzolla will continue the legacy left by Mark. Lisa Maree has the longest tenure on the team — two decades with GroupGSA. She heads up the practice’s architecture and urban design disciplines. Known for her dynamism and energy, Lisa Maree is routinely described as both ‘a pleasure to work with’ and a ‘powerhouse of ideas’.

Peter McCamley leads the practice’s interior design and workplace projects and brings to GroupGSA more than 25 years of experience — the last five at GroupGSA. Mark Sheldon describes him thus: “Peter has exceeded expectations in growing our national interiors business, and is a great intellect and communicator”.

John Holland has notched up almost 12 years with GroupGSA and oversees the practice’s landscape architecture business, along with a team of 30 designers. His collaborative yet entrepreneurial approach are deftly applied to a range of design work — spanning residential, multi-residential, infrastructure, and urban design projects.

Meanwhile, Nancy Piazzolla’s almost 15-year career at the practice has seen her effortlessly balance the dual roles of Director and Chief Operating Officer. Her combined financial acumen, HR and operational skill sets make her an invaluable part of the team.

All Directors credit their Principals, located across Australia and Asia, as key to their ongoing success. In the coming months, GroupGSA looks forward to profiling these Principals in more detail.