Amanda is a built environment educator, researcher, and practitioner driven by her cultural curiosity and observation of local and wider contexts in which our places and spaces are situated. After completing bachelor degrees in environmental design and arts she continued to earn a masters of architecture from Savannah College of Art and Design and a masters of research with distinction from University of Lincoln (UK). Her international experience includes the USA, New Zealand, Italy, and the UK. Before assuming full time roles in higher education Amanda worked with the award winning NZ based architecrtural firm Herriot Melhuish O’Neill Architects which influenced her approach to working outside of her immediate cultural context. 

Leading the internationalised postgraduate course in architecture and urban studies at the University of Lincoln provided the opportunity to gain further knowledge around the relationship between people, place, and how design (particularly placemaking) can create and support healthy, vibrant, and sustainable communities. Her approach [to design] is context driven and led by respect for local culture, climate, material, and community.

As an extension of this built environment design studio and along with her interest in social enterprise she launched her consultancy Context Design Studio with the aim to offer design thinking and to facilitate participatory initiatives to clients and organizations who wish to develop projects which provide inclusivity and social impact in their communities. Her mission is to provide a framework through which a holistic and context driven approach to sustainability can be achieved supporting communities socially, economically, and environmentally.