New Zealand: Lucy Greenish
Born in 1888 in Brisbane, Australia, Lucy Greenish moved to New Zealand (1908) and is considered the first registered woman architect in New Zealand (1914). She trained as an architectural draftswoman with Atkins and Bacon, an architectural firm located in Wellington, New Zealand (1909–1915). During this time, she was the first woman elected an associate member of the New Zealand Institute of Architects (1913), a year prior to officially registering as an architect. Greenish relocated to Dunedin to work for another firm (c. 1915), then temporarily relocated to Australia (1926). When she returned to New Zealand (c. 1926/1927) she became the first woman to establish an architectural practice in the country (1927). Her practice was located in the Lower Hutt and featured in an advertisement in the Hutt News (1927). She worked for her practice until retiring c. 1930. Greenish died in 1976 in New Zealand.
References
“Architecture + Women NZ.” AWNZ. Accessed April 11, 2025. https://architecturewomen.org.nz/.
Cox, Elizabeth. Making Space: A History of New Zealand Women in Architecture. Auckland: Massey University Press, 2022.
Cox, Elizabeth. “‘Their Presence Could Work a Revolution’: Women Architects and Homes in New Zealand in the 1900s–1930s.” Society of Architectural Historians, Australia and New Zealand (May 2018): 47–57. https://www.sahanz.net/wp-content/uploads/SAHANZ18_paper_Cox.pdf.
“Hutt News, August 26 1927, Page 1.” Papers Past, accessed April 11, 2025. https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/hutt-news/1927/08/26/1.
Lewis, Penny. “Review: Making Space: A History of New Zealand Women in Architecture.” Kete Books. Accessed April 11, 2025. https://www.ketebooks.co.nz/en/reviews/making-space-a-history-of-new-zealand-women-in-architecture-cox.
“New Zealand Institute of Architects Act 1913 (4 GEO V 1913 No 15).” NZLII. Accessed April 11, 2025. https://www.nzlii.org/nz/legis/hist_act/nzioaa19134gv1913n15431/.
“Women in Architecture in NZ across the Ages.” RNZ, October 21, 2022. https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/ninetonoon/audio/2018863625/women-in-architecture-in-nz-across-the-ages.
