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HH Insider – Tom Keating

04/05/2022 - Celebration -

Introducing Tom Keating. Tom came to HH as a student and has since become one of Human Habitats longest serving employees. Tom Joined HH when we were only 5 strong and immediately became a key member of the team. His likable and measured approach in the office, belies his boisterous approach to discussions, in a more social setting.

Tom has developed into a technically strong urban design practitioner; a go-to for our team. With the maturing of the HH Landscape business, Tom has finally also been to able utilise his many years of education and work his conceptual skills into landscape magic.

He has used the Covid break from society to buy a house, detox from music festivals, and grieve his 2020 plan to take a three-month trekking sabbatical across the Sierra Nevada.

Tom is a stalwart of the Melbourne team, and its about time he shared with our community a little bit more about all that is Tom… see below!

Can you give us a little background as to your beginnings? What was your first ever job?

My first ever job was as a workshop hand at a place in Fairfield. My Dad was running the place, so he gave me a job during year 12 and I continued through a gap year before going to Uni. I learnt some extremely valuable skills like welding, cutting, basic metal working, and I got very good at sweeping.

 How did you start your career as an Urban Designer?

I kind of fell into urban design a bit. I was studying Landscape Architecture at Uni and received an email during my final year from a tutor that a job was going for a student at an urban design firm. I applied for it, had a great chat with Ryan about how terrible some of my work was, and here I am almost 6 years later.

What has been your biggest learning about Urban Design to date?

When I started, I really had very little idea of what Urban Design was. I remember asking what ‘greenfield’ meant during my initial interview. Landscape degrees teach very little about it. Having a mentor like Ryan who is so passionate and knowledgeable has been extremely valuable. I think the most valuable the thing I’ve learnt is how even small interventions like widened verges, places for canopy/feature trees, where to have the larger or the smaller lots, pedestrian movements, can make a huge impact on the outcome of neighbourhoods.

Favourite project?

It’s hard to go past Verdant Hill as my favourite. It must be the longest running job in the office. I worked on Neighbourhood 1 when I was first starting and now, we have approvals for Neighbourhood 4. It’s been great to see such a large project come together over the course of 5 or so years.

Whats been one of your best achievements over the last year?

Managed to get into the property market with the purchase of my first home back in October.

How about giving us your greatest life achievement to date.

This one is difficult to answer. 2020 cancelled my plans to do what I would probably consider my greatest achievement at this point, a three-month trek across the Sierra Nevada. I hope to give that another crack in 2024.

So I would probably say to date, buying a house is high up there.

Favourite Album….ever…?

Hot Fuss – The Killers, I could (and have) listened to it on repeat all day.

Favourite building in Melbourne?

I’ve struggled with this question a lot and I think it is one of the reasons that I ended up studying landscape and not architecture.

I find myself not caring much about what individual buildings look like, but I end up focusing on how they impact or contribute to the environment that they are in, and as long as it’s not part of a homogenised city.

Always a soft spot for the Exhibition Building, though I do think the interior is more impressive than the exterior.

Dogs or cats?

Dogs.

Last stamp in your passport?

Last thing stapled into my passport is my USA extended stay visa from early 2020 that never got used.

Dream holiday destination post COVID?

I’ve just booked my ticket over to the UK in July. I’m lucky enough to have UK citizenship but have never made it a priority to go. I have a UK passport burning a hole in my drawer at home that needs using.

What superpower would you choose if you could?

Instant teleportation. I’m motivated a lot by food. If I was able to zip across to Italy or Vietnam for lunch that would be a life worth living as far as I’m concerned.

As a foodie, where should one eat in Melbourne?

When I think of a foodie I think more fine dining. I am more a pub aficionado. Big on a parma or fried chicken burger. Much bigger on quantity rather than quality generally. The Standard in Fitzroy is one of my favourites because it is both quantity and quality.

Favourite open space in Melbourne?

Fairfield Park through to Yarra Bend and Studley Park.

You can get completely lost in there on foot or with a mountain bike a barely realise that you’re still in the middle of a city with millions of people.

Last one for the fans… Beach or Snow?

Snow, every day. I don’t like sand. It’s coarse, and rough, and irritating, and it gets everywhere.