About CLAD

Introduction

Architecture that starts with the people it's for. CLAD is an architecture practice based in Naarm (Melbourne) and lutruwita (Tasmania), founded in 2021 by Carey Landwehr.

The practice

CLAD works at the meeting point of residential, community, and public-interest architecture. The bias is regenerative; the method is participatory; the politics are quietly housed in the work.

We're Living Future Institute accredited and design to Petal Certification threshold by default. We're members of Architects Declare and the Sustainable Builders Alliance. Carey is Vice President of the Union of Architectural Workers. None of this sits behind the work. It shapes the work.

Our research and teaching feeds back into practice, especially on housing, community models, and the policy frameworks that decide who gets to live where. We work across Victoria and Tasmania and welcome conversations from outside our usual catchment.

Acknowledgement of Country

Carey was born in Yamatji Country and lives and works on the land of the Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung People. He acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of this land whose sovereignty was never ceded, and pays his respect to their enduring connection to Country.

Carey Landwehr

Architect, principal

Carey Landwehr (he/him) is a registered architect and principal of CLAD, which specialises in community-driven, regenerative projects across Naarm and Lutruwita. Previously a project architect at Jackson Clements Burrows Architects, he delivered significant social housing projects across Victoria. As Vice President of the Union of Architectural Workers and an accredited Living Future Institute designer, Carey advocates for multidisciplinary approaches that embrace equitable access to architecture. Alongside practice, he teaches at several tertiary institutions. His current research focuses on communal autonomy at the intersection of architecture and public policy, with a focus on housing models.

• LinkedIn: in/careylandwehr
• Instagram: @clad_au

Philosophy

Three commitments, each visible in how we run a project: who's in the room, what the brief is measured against, what we leave behind when we hand over the keys.

Collaborative

We design projects with the people who'll use them.

On community work that means co-design sessions with residents and stakeholders before the first plans are drawn. On residential work it's quieter: usually three or four conversations before any lines go down. Co-design is standard practice, not a marketing word.

• Six community housing projects delivered with participatory briefing
• Industry Mentor for ABP and AIA Industry Mentoring Programs
• Co-design workshops scoped into every Stage 01

Regenerative

CLAD designs to the Living Future Petal Certification threshold by default.

The accreditation shapes specific design choices on every project: orientation, fabric, water cycles, materials, and on-going post-occupancy review. Whether the work hits full Petal Certification depends on budget and brief, but we design to the threshold every time.

• LFIA accredited, 2022
• Architects Declare member
• EDIE™ Dementia Design accredited

Meaningful

Buildings outlive briefs.

We design residential work with enough structural slack to allow later reconfiguration: non-load-bearing internal walls where the plan permits, single-level addition pathways, serviceable roof and wet-area zoning. Community and educational work is designed for seasonal reconfiguration as a baseline.

• Long-term flexibility specified at Stage 02
• Twelve-month post-occupancy review included
• Designs published openly through CLAD research

Teaching, research and advocacy

Carey teaches at four tertiary institutions, sits on the executive of the Union of Architectural Workers, and is currently a Graduate Cert candidate in Public Policy at the ANU. Academic research feeds the practice, especially on housing and community models.

This isn't a sideline. Teaching, organising and policy work shape what gets briefed, what gets built, and who gets to commission an architect in the first place.

Teaching (4 institutions)

• Teaching Associate, Monash University (Since 2024)
• Sessional Lecturer (Construction), Melbourne Polytechnic (Since 2024)
• Sessional Academic, Studio Leader, Swinburne University of Technology (Since 2024)
• Sessional Academic, Melbourne School of Design, University of Melbourne (Since 2021)

Advocacy and memberships (6 organisations)

• Vice President, Union of Architectural Workers (2024 to 2026)
• Member, Architects Declare (Since 2023)
• Member, Sustainable Builders Alliance (Since 2024)
• Member, Parlour Collective (Since 2022)
• Member, Renters and Housing Union Australia (Since 2024)
• Committee Member, Professional Architects Australia (2022 to 2024)

Recognition

Awards, accreditations, and study, newest first.

• 2025 — Education: Graduate Certificate (Public Policy), The Australian National University
• 2023 — Accreditation: Dementia Design (EDIE™), Dementia Australia
• 2022 — Accreditation: Living Future Institute Accredited (LFIA), Living Future Institute of Australia
• 2018 — Award: Bates Smart Medal, Commendation, An Exploration of Architectural Temporality
• 2018 — Award: DesignInc Positive Legacy Design Award, The Koolin Balit Centre
• 2018 — Education: Master of Architecture, The University of Melbourne
• 2016/17 — Award: Melbourne Global Scholars Award, India / United Kingdom
• 2012 — Education: Bachelor of Arts (Design and Applied Arts), Curtin University

Career

Fifteen years across studios, sites, and faculties. Some steps overlap, which is how a career in architecture works in practice.

• Principal, Carey Landwehr Architecture & Design (Since 2021)
  Residential, community, and research.
• Project Architect, Jackson Clements Burrows Architects (2021 to 2023)
  Social and multi-residential housing across Victoria.
• Graduate, then Operations Manager, Tandem Design Studio (2018 to 2021)
  Project delivery and studio operations.
• Mechanical Draftsperson, Cross Section CAD Services (2010 to 2021)
  Industrial documentation alongside study and practice.

Contact

Get in touch with us about your project or enquiry.

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