How do you put a value on social impact — and who gets to decide? Eilish McNab and Brett Pollard bring deep experience from practice, research, and industry to tackle the commercial realities of pursuing social value. They unpack definitions, debate forecasting and attribution, and challenge architecture's material logic of value with a provocation: what if we framed what architects do as delivering user experience?
In this episode our conversation partners are engaged by host Angelique Edmonds in discussion of pursuing social value in the context of commercial matters in practice. Eilish and Brett know one another well and have both acted as guest presenters for graduate students at university. This conversation expands on shared enthusiasm to see progress in social value in the built environment.
Eilish McNab (née Barry) is a UK-registered Associate architect working at the intersection of design and research. Specialising in social infrastructure, she has led the delivery of complex education and residential projects across Australia and the UK. As the Social Value Lead at Hayball, Eilish has pioneered research on how design influences community wellbeing. She co-developed, in partnership with the Australian Social Value Bank, an industry-first framework to measure social outcomes from project inception through to post-occupancy. Through this research and her leadership, Eilish is advancing evidence-based, values-driven design, helping to embed social value as a core outcome of architectural design and strengthening the role of design in shaping more equitable and resilient communities. Her work has been recognised with a Design Thinking Grant from the Alastair Swayn Foundation and the SIMNA Innovation Award.
Dr Brett Pollard is passionate about creating healthy places that have a positive impact for people and the planet. Brett also believes in the power of research and collaboration to create innovative solutions for complex problems. He holds a PhD from the Faculty of Medicine and Health at the University of Sydney, a Master of Design Science and is a registered Architect and Landscape Architect. Brett's extensive experience in designing and delivering built environment and strategic business projects is complemented by specialties in disciplines including research, sustainability, project management, framework development and program implementation. Brett is a regular presenter at conferences, universities, and workshops, and has researched and written numerous research papers and articles on sustainable design, social value, healthcare, education and physical activity in the workplace.
Our host Angelique Edmonds has a passion for design education, social value and public engagement. Trained as an architect, she operates professionally as a Senior Lecturer in Architecture & Sustainable Design at UniSA and independently as the founder and Creative Director of the School for Creating Change. Her 2020 book Connecting People, Place & Design (published by Intellect UK) draws together fifteen years of practice and research regarding human relationships to place, our capacities to connect with one another and place, and the extent to which contemporary public design mechanisms allow public participation.
Eilish McNab:
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Brett Pollard:
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