Wright on target with architect win

As the only architect in Western Australia with professional indemnity insurance to cover work on sites with fuel related activities and fuel storage and dispensing installations, Brian Wright has carved a niche in the market for design of sites with potentially explosive hazardous materials.

Not that he has stuck within that niche, becoming heavily involved in the architectural industry as chairman of the Architects Board of WA since 1999 and president of the Architects Accreditation Council of Australia since 2002, as well as a career-long involvement with different professional bodies.

It is this contribution to the profession that helped Mr Wright be awarded the 2005 Architects Board Award.

Mr Wright said he had been involved in the building industry from a very young age, with his parents owning Wrights Hardware (the equivalent of Bunnings today).

He has run his own practice with his wife, an interior designer, since 1996, but previously, Mr Wright was a consultant to BP for five years and a partner and principal for Palassis Architects for nine years.

“I currently work mainly for oil companies, which came about through being asked to help BP out with their Kewdale facility, and what started out as a six month contract turned into a six year contract,” Mr Wright said.

“My time there taught me to handle dangerous and explosive goods sites, and when I left, I had both a specialty and a network, and when I went out on my own, oil companies came to me and gradually my client base has grown to include Peak, Gull, Soverign and Liberty.

“Now I have a very specialised practice in buildings for hazardous materials or with explosive atmospheres.”

Through his role at the Architects Board, Mr Wright was heavily involved in helping to formulate the Architects Act, which was proclaimed at the end of last year and is due to come into effect on July 1 this year.

The act will effect  number of changes for the profession and provide guidelines for how architects should practice.

“As chairman of the board, this just fell on my shoulders – I have been involved in trying to get the act changed for 13 years, as the old act is from the 1920s and really outdated,” Mr Wright said.

“The new act will provide a code of conduct and set out how architects should practice.  It also provides that every architectural agreement needs to be in writing.”

He added that there was a lot more public protection offered in the new act.

Through his role as national president of the Architects Accreditation Council of Australia, Mr Wright has been involved in implementing a mechanism breaking down barriers for architects to work within APEC countries.

This month a final meeting in Tokyo will signal the beginning of the agreement.

“It is very rewarding to get to the stage where this will happen,” Mr Wright said.

“It will mean that an APEC registered architect can move freely between the 21 APEC economies, and we are hoping to elevate the project to the government level next.”