Paul Pholeros Foundation

The Paul Pholeros Foundation was established in 2018 to honour the life and work of Australian architect and humanitarian Paul Pholeros. Paul dedicated much of his life to improving the housing and environmental conditions of Indigenous people in Australia and disadvantaged communities in other countries.

The Foundation continues his legacy through investment in the people who can bring about real change and who will raise sanitation and environmental living conditions in communities.

The PPF’s initial focus was to provide an annual PPF Nepal Fellowship for an Australian plumbing team to work alongside local counterparts on a sanitation project in Nepal.

The 2019 Fellowship team worked on the construction of a village toilet and handwashing block which the villagers dedicated to the memory of Paul Sir.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic the PPF Fellowship was put on hold until 2023 after the global situation stabilised.

In the interim the PPF shifted to new activities including a competition to design a portable handwashing unit in for Nepal and the launch of the Paul Pholeros Architecture Scholarship.

Paul Pholeros Living Environment Scholars 2025.

The PPF is excited to announce the two successful Scholars for 2025-26.

This year we broadened the reach of the Scholarship to include submissions from eligible Landscape Architects, to better reflect the importance Paul always placed on the interrelationship between the natural and built environments.

Samuel Cannon

Samuel is a Landscape Architect who hails from Melbourne. Samuels’s study, “From Landfill to Legacy. Seeding Landscapes of Cultural Renewal” will explore how the practice of Landscape Architecture can empower local councils to proactively support, activate and accelerate new approaches in sustainable public space renewal.

Matthew Tibballs

Matthew, an Architectural Graduate, is also based in Melbourne. His study “The Promise Ring: Delivering Vibrant and Liveable Activity Centres for the SRL” aims to provide a proactive framework for precinct planning with tangible design principles and urban strategies to ensure the Suburban Rail Loop in Melbourne becomes a legacy of enhanced liveability and not a symbol of missed opportunity.

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Jul 3

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PPF is thrilled to announce our Bhattedanda Village Stupa Sanitation and Caretaker Project has received a Commendation from the 2025 Architecture AU Award for Social Impact program.

This is a wonderful acknowledgment of the important work carried out by our architects and the project team in Nepal.

Kudos to architects Harry Catterns, Jasper Ludewig, David Donald, Shane Marshall who volunteered their skills, time, and efforts to create a facility that has improved the quality of life of local villagers.

Local project managers Prem Lama and Surya Lama were instrumental in establishing and supporting the project.

Congratulations to our friends @incidentalarchitecture for receiving a well deserved commendation for their Nungalinya student accommodation project in Darwin, providing much needed facilities for Indigenous adult students from remote communities. The award acknowledged the designers taking the time to listen and build relationships with their clients and the community they served. Bravo!! ...

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Jun 23

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Introducing Matthew Tibballs, PPLiving Environment Scholar 2025. Matthew’s study topic is The Promise Ring:Delivering Vibrant and Liveable Activity Centres for the Suburban Rail Loop in Melbourne.

Matthew, a Graduate Architect also based in Melbourne, will study how infrastructure projects such as the SRL can integrate mid rise and high rise buildings to achieve liveable and vibrant density around activity centres.

Welcome Matthew!
The PPF looks forward to watching your study develop over the next 12 months.

More info is available in the bio link ...

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Jun 23

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Introducing Samuel Cannon, PPLiving Environment Scholar 2025. Samuel’s study topic is From Landfill to Legacy -Seeding Landscapes of Cultural Renewal.

Samuel, a Landscape Architect based in Melbourne, will explore how the practice of landscape architecture can empower local councils to proactively support, activate and accelerate new approaches in sustainable public space renewal.

Welcome Samuel!
The PPF looks forward to watching your study develop over the next 12 months.

For more info check the link in bio ...

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Apr 2

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Fabulous opportunity to hear from Michi, PPF Scholar, how equitable and affordable housing can be achieved. Bravo Michi! @michi_moses @raa_regionalarchitecture

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Feb 9

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The Paul Pholeros Living Environment Scholarship 2025 is open for applications. As per Paul’s iconic site and house cross section, the “place” ie environment and “stuff” ie built structure are inextricably linked.

The Scholarship is an opportunity for recently graduated Architects and Landscape Architects to pursue their passion to improve built and living environments in Australia.

Information is available at PPF website, link above. Contact info@ppfoundation for further info. ...

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Feb 6

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Catch Prof Hitesh Mehta’s captivating tribute to PP, his valued friend and colleague, against the backdrop of the collaborative creation of the multi award winning Crosswaters Lodge in China. View on PPF’s newly established YouTube channel. Link in bio.

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