“Architecture is about functionality. For me, no matter how beautiful it is, it loses purpose if it’s not functional. I think architecture should be purposeful and useful.”

Mahi’s a warm, approachable front end design lead with a passion for social justice and community focussed housing that transforms lives. She takes design concepts through feasibility to schematic design and town planning. She’s friendly, reliable and level headed. A team player equally at home guiding or learning.

Her sites tend to be friendly too. Mahi works hard and listens carefully. She takes the time to discuss clients’ requirements and ideas in depth, offers considered responses, and keep communication open to achieve better outcomes.

We owe Mahi’s family for her pursuit of design with a strong social conscience. Her parents emigrated from Greece when Mahi and her brother were toddlers, and for the first few years, the family lived in the monastery of the Greek Orthodox priest who ran the high school that employed her dad. It was a joyful experience not unlike the village life they’d left – full of neighbours sharing space, eating and occasionally holidaying together, and helping out with homework and school pickups when her parents were working. It opened Mahi’s eyes to the power and comfort of community.

At school she loved maths and design, and had as much fun getting her hands dirty as stepping back to consider exactly what made a beautiful building work. She studied architecture at university and volunteered for several years at Architects Without Frontiers, which fuelled her passion for humanitarian housing.

At ClarkeHopkinsClarke Mahi’s making a real impact with award winning housing that’s affordable, comforting and beautifully designed. There’s still a long way to go in Australia but Mahi’s determined to make a difference and keen to explore fresh approaches to indigenous, temporary and crisis housing.