Barbara Yerondais: The Architect Who Builds Lives

You pull up to a Melbourne heritage home on a crisp autumn morning. The façade whispers of another era — verandahs that caught sea breezes, windows framing lives long past. But inside, it’s waiting for your future. That’s the moment Barbara Yerondais arrives. Not with a clipboard, but with a question.

“This is your dream home,” she says, voice steady as bluestone. “Let’s talk about it. Tell me what matters most to you.”

No pitch. No performance. Just grace — the kind that comes from thirty-five years of showing up, not for the blueprint, but for the story behind it.

Barbara Yerondais isn’t Melbourne’s loudest architect. She’s the one clients remember.

A first-generation designer who turns grit into legacy, one quiet conversation at a time. Her portfolio spans more than 400 projects, $300M in value — from million-dollar residential builds to 235 social dwellings that house hope. Rooted in deep cultural ties, she builds with empathy, precision, and purpose.

Because legacy isn’t just structure. It’s heart meeting vision.

Let’s walk her path.

Rising to Fellowship: The Quiet Start

Picture Melbourne in the 1980s. A young Barbara Yerondais—daughter of parents who crossed oceans for a new beginning—steps into RMIT’s architecture studios. By 1987, B.Arch in hand, she’s already tutoring first-years in construction. “It was about making the invisible visible,” she recalls. How beams hold weight. How light defines space. Tutor from 1987 to 1988, then lecturer on a three-year contract (1989–91), she taught building science not as theory, but as the craft of making homes stand.

By 2010, at 46 and newly named a FRAIA Fellow, Barbara was leading partnerships on Walker and Yerondais. Two decades of foundation stood behind her—more than 30 heritage restorations and close to 100 public housing projects (28 new builds, 68 renewals). Her early work on greenfield sites shaped Preston’s 55 clustered homes, Coburg’s 13 dwellings, Bundoora’s 182 student residences, and Ringwood’s 156 apartments. Each carried her conviction that affordability and dignity can—and must—coexist. “I learned early,” she says. “Architecture isn’t about buildings. It’s about lives.”

The cultural thread runs deep: connection, inclusion, resilience. It’s why she approaches overlays not as hurdles, but as honors. By 2009, BY Projects took shape—one vision, many hands. Because legacy, as she proves, is never built alone.

235 Dwellings and Counting: The Heart of Social Housing in Victoria

Drive through Shepparton or Wangaratta, and you see them: homes that look ordinary until they don’t. Gardens that invite laughter, layouts that let families breathe. 235 social dwellings since 2009—not tallies, but turning points. Barbara didn’t chase the count. She chased dignity.

Before 2009, her Ministry work set the tone — projects like Broadmeadows’ triple developments and Ascot Vale’s special-needs housing shaped her focus on social impact. Then came BY Projects: a quiet revolution in community design. Hume delivered 17 new homes across Broadmeadows and Westmeadows; Casey added 8 in Eumemmering. In Wangaratta, 16 homes for Beyond Housing included 13 affordable dwellings and 3 DV-safe creek-side sanctuaries. Shepparton followed with more than 100 homes across Nixon, Maude, and Sobroan Streets. Mitchell’s 15 across Seymour, Kilmore, and Wallan, and Whittlesea’s 27 in Ashline, continued the work — partnerships that housed hundreds, quietly and with care.

“Social housing isn’t charity,” Barbara reflects. “It’s dignity designed.”

Building science’s woven in — her RMIT lecturing (1986–91) on building science and construction design embedded passive solar principles and green materials that deliver 20–30% energy savings. Councils trust her: 10+ long-term partnerships, from Darebin to Frankston. Beyond Housing? Over 100 homes delivered. NDIS specialists, nursing renovations for aging in place — from Frankston Beyond Housing feasibility to full builds. COVID cut classes, but not commitment. “We build for mornings,” she says. “The ones families reclaim.”

Resiliency shows in the partnerships. “Scale small, impact big,” Barbara notes. “Listen to the people, not the plans.” It’s why clients return. Not for the numbers. For the homes that hold.

Navigating Heritage Overlays: Grace Under Pressure

Heritage isn’t history frozen — it’s a conversation. In Melbourne, where overlays layer rules like varnish, most step back. Barbara leans in. She’s navigated 59 heritage overlays — 29 since 2009 — across single dwellings and complex conversions: Fairfield’s church reborn as eight apartments, Coghill Street Westmeadows transformed into low-cost housing, Canterbury’s period site renewed as luxury residences. Each project a dance — preserving the whisper, adding the breath.

“This is your dream home,” she begins. Grace first. Then the work: assess the soul, respect the lines, blend eco-modern principles for 30% energy savings through passive solar design and sustainable materials. The RAIA Award in 1991? Early proof. The Planning Institute Honour in 1993? A nod to balance — culture, craft, and care.

Her team amplifies that ethos: Judit’s modern weaves, Ioanna’s precision in compliance, Howard’s quiet technical mastery. Barbara leads with relationships — her networks open doors gently. “Overlays aren’t chains,” she reflects. “They’re guides to something deeper.”

Port Melbourne’s heritage overlay? Delivered on time, on budget. “Exceeded expectations,” says client Mark Shannon.

Your home? The next verse. Grace under pressure — always.

Mentoring the Next Generation: Women in Construction

Coffee meetings are not formalities—they are continuations of commitment. As one of few women in the early architectural landscape, Barbara understood the value of connection. In 2009, through AIA Victoria, she began mentoring five graduates; today, that network has expanded to dozens. More than thirteen women have been guided directly under her mentorship, including long-term mentee Berna, with whom she continues an annual exchange. Her guidance has extended beyond gender, supporting early-career professionals across disciplines.

Barbara’s advocacy extends through her involvement with NAWIC, where she promotes women’s leadership in construction with quiet authority. “I was mentored quietly,” she reflects. “Now I pay it wider.”

Her foundation is built on resilience and rigor—grounded in her RMIT education and early lecturing roles at RMIT (1986–91) and the University of Melbourne’s Property program (2010–20). “Students push the why,” she notes. “Mentees—the heart.” The outcome: scalable mentorship programs and enduring careers.

Recognised twice as a Paul Harris Fellow, Barbara continues to shape professional pathways with the same focus that defines her practice—steady, inclusive, and forward-facing.

Lecturing to Legacy: How Barbara’s Teaching Shapes Her Designs

Classrooms hum; ideas spark. For Barbara Yerondais, teaching has always been an extension of practice. Beginning as a tutor at RMIT in 1986 and later lecturing in construction science (1989–91), she helped shape a generation of designers fluent in both craft and conscience. At the University of Melbourne, her contribution spanned the Capstone program (2010–11), Property Studio (2012–19), and Industry Studies (2013–20). A sessional lecturer renewed annually until COVID paused classes, she remained a constant presence of rigor and care.

Her teaching philosophy mirrors her design ethos: conversation over instruction. “This is your dream home,” she would begin. “Let’s talk about it.” The exchange—never a monologue—refined her listening, her analysis, and her design instinct. The results show in practice: 235 sustainable dwellings with measurable energy savings, 59 heritage projects that teach as much as they endure.

Determination defines the path. “Early rooms were mine alone,” Barbara reflects. “Now I make space for others.” Her mentoring through the AIA extends this legacy—more than 13 women guided, with programs that continue to grow. Each initiative embodies her belief that architecture is as much about inclusion as it is about form.

Her legacy is not measured in plaques or plans, but in the grace that endures and the grit that inspires. In a city built on stories, Barbara continues to shape the ones that matter—thoughtful, resilient, and alive with purpose.

Ready to bring your dream alive? Claim your free consultation.

Let’s talk about it.

By Barbara Yerondais
Oct 18, 2025