IB Woman
Issue No. 34 - April/May 2007
House plan makes cities hum
by Penelope Herbert
Georgina House is a social planner whose skills are represented in high-level urban projects that affect the lives of hundreds of thousands of South Australian residents.
During her formative years in a small community in Papua New Guinea, Georgina was given a book describing the town plan for the mining town.
Unknowingly, she was witnessing urban development through the pages of the book.
“My high school years were spent in Adelaide,” says Georgina. “I was good at geography and one of my teachers asked if I had considered being a town planner.
“I remembered the book and how exciting it was to see the mining town develop. So I went to University and gained a BA in Planning and a Graduate Diploma in Regional and Urban Planning. One day a week, I supplemented the theoretical learning by working in a planning office.”
Upon graduating, Georgina accepted a position with a small urban planning firm led by a man she says is strategic and a visionary. Doug Wallace became Georgina’s boss and mentor. Over two years the firm grew from five to eight people, eventually merging in 1985 with prominent international firm Pak Poy Kneebone.
“PPK were keen to develop their planning division,” says Georgina, “and I was able to work on some key projects including the Hindmarsh Island Marina Environment Report and Southern Expressway.
“Eventually, in 1998, Doug wanted to start his own firm again and I joined as one of four directors. It was a risk as we had no clients, no offices and no work.”
Georgina says it was an exciting time, despite the risks, because all four directors had equal equity in the firm; it took just three months to start to make a profit.
“Having good networks, government contacts, previous happy clients and an intimate knowledge of how South Australia operates held us in very good stead,” says Georgina.
“We knew the issues, could see opportunities and were able to assis...
