Sejal Bhikha
Sejal Bhikha
Sejal Bhikha is a Research Officer at Monash University’s XYX Lab, based in the Faculty of Art, Design and Architecture, where she contributes to research, administration and communication design. She holds a Bachelor of Architectural Studies from Victoria University of Wellington and a Master of Architecture from the University of Melbourne, where her postgraduate study was oriented toward social equity, participation and the public realm. She has also contributed to teaching undergraduate architectural history and theory units at Victoria University of Wellington.
With eight years of experience in architectural practice, Sejal has worked on projects ranging from large-scale civic buildings and specialist disability accommodation to residential design and technical recladding works. Her practice has been shaped by a consistent focus on research-informed design - working across site analysis, regulatory frameworks, community input and lived experience to understand wider systems and to produce outcomes responsive to the people who use them.
Alongside practice, Sejal contributes to Rally Magazine, an independent multimedia publication dedicated to platforming marginalised voices. Her work there moves between editorial research and communication design - understanding and synthesising information across complex intersectional topics and translating this into accessible and engaging visual material for broad audiences.
Within XYX Lab, she is currently contributing to the ARC Discovery Project Designing Dignity: Civic Equity Through Public Bathroom Architecture, led by Professor Nicole Kalms (Monash University) and Professor Emily Potter (Deakin University), which aims to explore the role and function of public bathrooms as an inclusive civic asset and infrastructure of care.
Consistent through all facets of her work and experience across disciplines, Sejal is drawn to work at the intersection of design thinking and public engagement, and how this contributes to building a more inclusive and equitable society.