Nicole Gardner

Dr. Nicole Gardner is a Professor and Program Director of Computational Design at the School of Built Environment, Faculty of Arts, Design and Architecture (ADA), UNSW. A Registered Architect in NSW (#7921), she holds a PhD in Architecture from the University of Technology Sydney (2018) and a First Class Honours Bachelor of Architecture from the University of Adelaide (2000). Her research bridges digital transformation, urban technology ethics, and computational design practices.

• PhD, School of Architecture, University of Technology Sydney (2018)
• Bachelor of Architecture (1st Class Honours), University of Adelaide (2000)
• Bachelor of Design Studies, University of Adelaide (1998)

Her research interrogates digital transformation in the AEC industry through organizational learning theory, computational pragmatism, and ethical frameworks for smart cities. She explores human-machine configurations, augmented reality applications, and sustainable fabrication techniques like hybrid clay 3D printing for bio-reef structures.

The 15 most recent articles reveal trends in computational design ethics, smart city scaling, digital compliance workflows, waste reduction strategies, and human-scale urban technology. Keywords span urban technology, machine learning, design automation, and gender dynamics in tech, with subfields like parametric acoustic modeling, semantic BIM consistency, and privacy-preserving occupancy analysis.

• 2021-2022: UNSW Faculty Research Fellowship
• 2022: Chief Investigator for $9M ARC Industrial Transformation Training Centre
• 2024, 2021, 2019: DFAT Australia-Japan Foundation Grants

Nicole supervises practice-based MPhil/PhD candidates focused on smart cities and digital transformation in AEC. She co-edited CAADRIA conference proceedings and chaired the 2024 CAADRIA conference 'Accelerated Design'.