Andy Fergus is an urban designer and design advocate, passionate about helping government, ethical developers and communities create successful places.

With experience across planning, urban design and architecture, Andy operates at all scales of the city from the urban plan to the individual building, often acting as a translator between disciplines and scales. His work is informed by the relationship between urban economics, planning frameworks and spatial design.

Andy’s projects emphasise the role of prototypes to inspire positive change, and improve the standards of the basic building blocks that collectively shape our urban environment.

Design strategy

Precinct planning, planning rules, urban design guidelines, peer review

Andy specialises in the creation of frameworks for areas undergoing change in urban, suburban and regional areas, setting up the ambitions, rules and physical form based on the specific needs of the location, community and environment. From initial visioning through to site-specific controls and tender criteria to guide development, Andy helps create the pre-conditions for successful places.

 

Design advocacy

Design governance and policy, design review, public advocacy, writing

Andy has extensive experience in providing design advice on complex development projects for government and development clients. He can help set up governance structures, guidelines and procurement processes that enable exemplary design outcomes. He also has a strong focus on design education and advocacy, through writing, public talks and workshops. Current collaborators include Villa Maria Catholic Homes, Nightingale Housing, City of Melbourne, City of Yarra, Assemble Projects, Property Collectives and Milieu.

 

Communities are often cut out of the planning and development process, yet are left to live with the final outcome. From a background in community advocacy, Andy has a strong belief in the power of the community to shape their own visions of change, and is committed to education and capacity building around planning and design. Andy has run workshops, seminars and strategic design studies for and with community members to enable greater opportunity for more constructive engagement with government and developers.

Enabling communities

Community-led planning, design education and workshops, panel submissions

Whether embedded in a project team or providing targeted advisory input at key project stages, Andy brings a strong emphasis on collaboration.