Dr Noni Boyd is an architectural historian and heritage specialist who has focussed her career on researching, documenting and demonstrating the value of architecture and heritage in the Pacific. Noni holds a B. Arch from the University of Auckland, a Masters of Architectural Conservation from Sydney University and a PhD from RMIT University. Her PhD thesis focused on the work of NSW Government Architect Walter Liberty Vernon and her Masters thesis, which considered the historical development and conservation of a section of Gloucester Street in The Rocks, received the SHFA Conservation Prize.

The depth of Noni’s contribution to architectural heritage is extensive, and she has frequently collaborated with public service and private practice, education and publications providing specialist heritage research to assist the design and development of buildings in Australia and the South Pacific. Noni is known for her advocacy for adaptation not demolition of modern public buildings & public housing. Her work on an Australia ICOMOS Burra Charter Practice Note on Heritage & Sustainability has contributed to reducing emissions & progression towards Net Zero. Throughout her career she has worked with various heritage associations from the World Heritage Centre to the National Trust of Australia (NSW) and was a founding member of the Australian Working Party of DOCOMOMO who authored many publications, including a notable feature on the historical importance of Sirius Apartment building the Rocks, a prominent example of Brutalist architecture in Australia. Noni was a coordinator of the AIA NSW Chapter Heritage Committee from 2011-2016, maintaining the Chapter’s Digital Archive, Biographies of Architects, and Register of Twentieth Century Buildings. Noni has also contributed to a range of national and international books, journals and publications, including detailed biographical research of significant practitioners and was on the Editorial Committee of the Architecture Bulletin NSW from 2011-2016. She has contributed to education throughout her career, through lectures and tutorials in post graduate Heritage Conservation Courses at USyd and UTS, along with delivering public lectures and academic papers. Noni has been active in the public promotion of architecture, providing research for various exhibitions. One of the more notable exhibitions was the 2018 SOS Brutalism travelling exhibition and catalogue in both Frankfurt and Vienna. Noni has always been active in practice, was instrumental in notable heritage and conservation projects such as Capital Works Projects for Sydney Cove Authority, Minister’s Stonework Program, Aboriginal Cultural Centre & Keeping Place in the conversion of the former Redfern Post Office for the City of Sydney, as well as numerous Conservation Management Plans and preparation of many State, National Trust and Section 170 Heritage registers.

In addition to being an architectural researcher and historian, Noni has contributed in the service of advocacy and culture – helping professionals and lay-people understand the deeper significance of architecture, place and Country, and persuasively arguing for its appreciation, interpretation and protection. Her work in the analysis of cultural landscapes has provided a deeper understanding of multiple layers of meaning and symbolism within both architecture and the environment, that speaks to the significance in the layering of history to consider all who have cared and inhabited a place. As an exemplary architectural historian, Noni is distinguished by her endless knowledge of architecture and her generous capacity to share this with others. Dr Boyd is held in high esteem by the architectural profession, generations of students and her many collaborators. She is often the first point of call for those looking to find the deeper story of parts of our city and its architectural fabric, an architect who must be recognised for the value and breath of her contribution to the profession.