Professor Nigel Bertram

Professor Nigel Bertram

Practice Professor, Monash Urban Lab

Nigel Bertram is a founding Director of NMBW Architecture Studio and Practice Professor of Architecture in the Faculty of Art, Design and Architecture, Monash University. As co-director of the Monash Urban Lab he leads research projects on design-led processes for suburban regeneration and infill redevelopment, seeking new relationships between natural and human-made systems. Nigel was a lead researcher in the Co-operative Research Centre for Water Sensitive Cities from 2016-2020, and co-editor with Catherine Murphy of In Time with Water: Design Studies of 3 Australian Cities (UWA Press, 2019).

Nigel established NMBW Architecture Studio in Melbourne with Marika Neustupny and Lucinda McLean in 1997. NMBW’s architectural work is known for its careful reading of existing conditions and local traditions. In this capacity, they have worked on a wide range of projects from small-scale interventions in rural towns to complex urban projects as part of larger teams including the Maribyrnong Defence Site Masterplan, the reference design for the Melbourne Metro Rail Project (both with Grimshaw) and the five-year transformation of RMIT’s city campus with New Academic Street. NMBW led the adaptive re-use of three major heritage structures as part of the University of Melbourne’s Student Precinct in 2023, and completed the plus-energy retrofit project ‘Sanders Place’, which received the 2025 international Ammodo Architecture Award for Social Engagement. NMBW have completed numerous built and research projects investigating alternative typologies and ways of living within the low-rise suburban fabric of Australian cities

News & events

Upcoming events

Monash University partners with Victorian Government to launch State Design Book: University Showcase

Monash University hosted the official launch of the Victorian Government’s State Design Book: Part 3 and the University Showcase exhibition on 6 August 2026, featuring an address from the Minister for Planning, the Hon. Sonya Kilkenny MP.

Environmental toll of Melbourne’s urban sprawl to be revealed at top international exhibition

Researchers from Monash Urban Lab, as part of the official representatives of Australia at the 24th Triennale Milano International Exhibition, will use their exhibit to reveal how Melbourne’s focus on housing growth has led to environmental neglect.