Michael Marshman was kind, considerate and humble. He was a quintessential country architect and designed excellent buildings of many scales and types as required for his beloved Far South Coast location. Michael lived in the small coastal town of Tathra with an office in Bega for many years. He was an active member of the local community and offered assistance through the good times and the bad, including after the disastrous Tathra bush fire of 2018.
Born in Sydney in 1954, Michael competed his school years to Year 10 in Macksville before attending Knox Grammar in Wahroonga, Sydney. He went on to study Architecture at UNSW and gained experience with Cameron Chisholm Nicol in Canberra and Robin Dyke & Vivian Fraser in Milsons Point. In 1983 he started his own practice in the Bega Valley with his wife Pip actively by his side.
Michael had a love for nature and the ocean and was always up for adventure; be it surfing, ocean swimming, fishing or sailing his beloved sailboat ‘Ananda’. This deep respect for ‘place’ comes through in his work, along with a knack for innovative spatial relationships and a novel and durable approach to details and materials.
Michael’s contribution to Regional Architecture was significant. He took on challenging community projects such as Twyford Theatre in Merimbula and the Tathra Headland Walk and won multiple awards for his residential and multi-residential work. He was a committed member of the AIA NSW Country Division for many years and sat on the Country Division Awards Jury in 2014, forming many close friendships along the way.
In December 2024, Michael sadly passed away after a brief battle with Lymphoma. It is no doubt Michael would prefer to be remembered as a loving husband, caring father and father-in-law, doting grandfather, generous brother or friend, awesome surfer, master beach worm catcher and fisherman, or adventurous sailor and skipper as opposed to an architect, but his contribution in his chosen profession is undeniable.
“When at university Michael would take every opportunity to surf and often reminisced about his many days as a young boy surfing at Scotts Head. Always accommodating, my wife Kate and I enjoyed visits with Pip and Michael in Tathra and likewise enjoyed discussing a wide range of matters including architecture when they travelled north to visit. I had the pleasure of experiencing some of Michael’s carefully considered architecture, which ultised low maintenance materials suited for the south coast climate. I remember him showing me a beautiful house under construction on a ridge near Tathra and he was as concerned and enthralled by a nest being constructed by a local bower bird in the forest nearby as he was about discussing his beautiful house design. He loved birds and often remarked upon them and their nests nearby.”
Graeme Barr, Lennox Head
“Growing up on the Far South Coast, I clearly remember visiting Pip and Mike as a young child in their zincalume clad, curved roof house in the bush. Little did I know at the time, that years later I would have the privilege to work alongside Mike at Michael Marshman & Associates between university degrees. Mike had the trailblazing task of introducing architecture to the community as the only architect in the area for many years. His numerous built projects are a testament to Mike’s unique approach to architecture and contribution to shaping the local built environment. His generous and caring nature saw him mentor numerous architectural students and graduates and a little piece of Mike will live on in all of us as we continue on our own architectural journeys”.
Cherry Parsons, Newcastle
“Mike was a keen observer and a deep thinker. His mind was always busy, dreaming the next project & solving problems, driven by a constant desire to do the best he could with each opportunity for his clients and himself. Over the 17 years of working closely together, we developed a strong bond and great friendship. Our minds working in a similar fashion, often far away in overdrive, mentally juggling multiple projects. We never took the easy way out. We challenged everything and our friendship allowed us to search for answers, explore ideas and ultimately come up with amazing solutions together.”
Gillian MacMillan, Tathra
“Mike and I met at Knox and then went on to study architecture, work at CC&N and share a house together. While I disappeared overseas to make wine, Mike went on to achieve a modest but highly appreciated and personalised architecture career. Mike was always calm, smiling, sometimes intense but I never saw him angry. Our conversations concerned a wide range of subjects that always started clearly but, with Mike you were never sure where they would end up… I will cherish the memories made when Mike and Pip came to visit us in Spain last year. RIP Mike. I am very happy to have had you as a friend. Our friendship is one that you don’t have to live every day but it has been great when we could, even for a while”.
David Morrison, Spain
“I had the great pleasure of meeting Michael and Pip at one of the great Country Division conferences of the early 1990’s. As a fresh refugee from the city and new resident of Port Macquarie, on the mid north coast we could not have lived further apart, but nonetheless we shared a love of surfing and architecture, a bond that we renewed at the annual conference for over 30 years.
Michael was never flashy, but always thoughtful. His laconic style of story-telling was always amusing. I will never forget, ringing him after hearing of a shark attack on a local ocean swimming group. While I feared the worst, Michael digressed into a tale about cleaning the hull on his boat, a couple of days after a shark attack. While scrubbing the hull, he sensed that he was not alone in the water…when he suddenly turned around, he came face to face with an inquisitive seal!
Michael’s beautiful architecture on the south coast will live on, as tribute to his skill and understanding of his country. I will not forget him, and I will remain thankful that we met and had some great times, together.
Chris Jenkins, Port Macquarie, Chair RAIA NSW Country Division 2005-2011
