The latest asset to the Buildcorp NSW team is a property industry ‘all rounder’ with a passion for architecture, design and sustainable development. A former lead architect at Jackson Teece, Design Manager for Lipman Properties and more recently a Design & New Business Manager at Probuild, Gabriele Francis is now Business Development Manager for Buildcorp’s NSW Interiors team. Gabriele will be working closely with our clients to identify opportunities where we can drive better value for projects through early design input, optimised delivery models and innovation.
Describe your working style in one sentence.
GF: Collaborating, connecting and challenging to help people reach their goals; whether I’m in the office, on a building site or teaching on the yoga matt.
What is your most memorable career achievement to date?
GF: It would have to be 39 Hunter Street in the Sydney CBD. It had everything important to me: a passionate client, a great team, heritage and structural complexities, comprehensive authority and stakeholder engagement, as well as aspirational sustainability targets (it was the first heritage-listed 6- Star Green Star Design & As-Built V2). In a happy coincidence, Buildcorp was also involved completing the detailed fit-out of the whole-building Optiver tenancy!
What drove your career transitions from architecture to property development and now to construction?
GF: In a nutshell, it came about because I’m naturally inquisitive and passionate, and I had some great mentors along the way.
It is important to me to understand all stakeholders’ reasoning and thinking, from clients and consultants to service providers, which then allows me to influence better outcomes. My architectural, development and contracting experience has given me exactly that. I am now enjoying my career in contracting working with a strategic partnering business, as opposed to your typical ‘builder’.
Building contractors are tasked with realising the client vision and uniting a wide group of subcontractors and consultants to ensure the final product is a success. I have seen firsthand the benefits of getting a holistic team together, including the contractor, early in the process to jointly develop the design and increase the team’s confidence and efficiency in decision making. This is simply a best-value-for-project culture.
What industry trends are you most excited about?
GF: As a yoga teacher and wellbeing advocate, I am very excited about the ‘WELL’ Certification, ‘Place-making’ and ‘Community’ trends we are seeing more and more in developments and workspaces. It is great to work for a company like Buildcorp that ‘walks the talk’ having delivered Platinum WELL-inspired projects.
I look forward to seeing a spreading ‘WELL’ness revolution in our business community.
