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Meet our team

The Field whānau, left to right: Kate McDougall, Robert Lane, Elisabeth Ridley, Jonny Knopp, Iris Thuy Nguyen, Andrew Just, Lucia De Zavala, Oliver Latimer, Amiria Kiddle.


Amiria Kiddle


Ngāti Porou, Ngāpuhi  
Senior Designer
Bachelor of Architecture (Honours), Victoria University, Wellington
Licensed Building Practitioner
Amiria is an honours graduate from Victoria University in Wellington, with many years of experience working around Aotearoa. During this time she has been involved in a wide range of community, commercial and residential architectural projects. For the past few years Amiria has been working in Ōtautahi Christchurch, largely on post-earthquake new build and repair projects. She has contributed to three projects as part of Festival of Transitional Architecture (FESTA), each of which explored using a transitional design approach to test how Māori identity can be expressed and celebrated in an urban context.

Amiria has an affinity for indigenous design in architecture, in particular the idea of place identity; celebrating and experimenting with the unique character and environment of a location. She is also interested in urban and medium density residential architecture and housing people well and affordably.


Andrew Just


Director
Bachelor of Architecture (Honours), Victoria University, Wellington
Andrew Just founded Field Studio of Architecture and Urbanism in 2014. After graduating from Victoria School of Architecture in 2010, Andrew returned to his hometown of Christchurch just prior to the earthquakes of 2010-11. Andrew worked at multi-disciplinary F3 Design from 2010 to 2014, helping to lead a range of community-focused and crafted projects including converting grain silos into accommodation units, earthquake repairs on a heritage art gallery and temporary art gallery project Artbox. Andrew is also a co-founder of Gap Filler Trust, a charitable initiative that activates vacant sites around the city with temporary creative projects for public benefit. It has become synonymous with a ground-up creative movement in Christchurch.

Andrew enjoys creating well-crafted architecture that resonates with meaning, values and purposes. As the director of Field Studio he has worked on and led a range of interesting and challenging projects with diverse teams.



Iris Thuy Nguyen


Architectural designer
Bachelor of Architecture Studies, Ara Institute of Canterbury
Iris joined Field Studio in 2018. Her experience working and studying in such diverse fields as psychology, fashion design, travel, food, business and interpreting and translating helped her to realise that her true passion lay at the intersection of people and creativity, reminding her of a forgotten childhood dream of being an architect.

Iris is particularly interested in the ways architecture and urbanism can change people’s behaviour and vice versa. She enjoys the unique challenges and ultimate satisfaction that come with each project. “Being from Vietnam originally – a tropical country, far from Aotearoa, with such a different built environment, climate and culture – I'm always excited and curious as to how architecture can respond to problems here in New Zealand.”

Alongside her architectural work, Iris continues to work as a Vietnamese-English interpreter in court hearings and for organisations providing social support.



Kate McDougall


Senior designer
Bachelor of Architectural Studies with Distinction, Christchurch Polytechnic Institute of Technology


Kate received her Bachelor of Architectural Studies with Distinction from Christchurch Polytechnic Institute of Technology in 2013, having retrained following a career in the field of medical research, and stints chasing winters across the globe. Flung into the post-quake rebuild environment, Kate cut her teeth on large-scale commercial projects, and was heavily involved in the construction of the first base-isolated building erected following the earthquake sequences. She has since worked on a mix of commercial, education, and residential projects.

Kate enjoys being able to assist in the creation of spaces capable of enhancing and elevating everyday experiences. She values architecture that is highly personalised and fun. As we collectively set our sights on becoming zero carbon by 2050, Kate is increasingly aware of the responsibility designers have to create lower carbon buildings which can simultaneously promote occupant wellbeing. She is currently working towards certification as a Passive House Consultant, and is furthering her knowledge of mass timber construction systems and measurement of embodied and operational carbon emissions specifically in relation to buildings.



Lucia De Zavala


Architectural designer

Master of Architecture, Bachelor of Architecture, Escuela Tecnica Superior de Arquitectura de Madrid, Madrid University, Spain.


Lucia’s master’s thesis focused on the design of sensory wellbeing spaces and seawater therapy spas. She has also studied in Italy and has ten years of architectural experience working across Germany and New Zealand. Lucia has been working in Ōtautahi Christchurch since 2014 on a variety of architectural projects. Alongside this she lectures in design on architecture and interior design programmes at Ara Institute of Canterbury.

Lucia designs with a curious and inquisitive mind and has a special interest in delivering projects that respond simultaneously to urban context, community and individual needs. Her interest lies in designing spatial strategies that connect with people on a sensory level. Through her training as a yoga teacher and in herbalism Lucia has further developed an integrated vision of architecture with special interest in the ways spatial design can play a significant role in connecting soul, mind and body to spaces, implementing healing processes.



Field Studio of Architecture + Urbanism

270 St Asaph St, Boxed Quarter (Level 1, Western Courtyard)
Ōtautahi Christchurch
Aotearoa New Zealand