Louise St. John Kennedy

Louise St. John Kennedy is an Australian architect based in Perth, Western Australia. She received a degree in physiological psychology from the University of Western Australia in 1970 and a Bachelor of Architecture from the University of Melbourne in 1978. Kennedy’s work has focused mostly on residential architecture. Critical of the typical Australian medium- to high-density developments, her designs diversified and expanded the available options for prospective homeowners. She sought to respond to the realities of the 1980s—such as rising divorce rates, the postponement of having children, and a growing aging-in-place population—by offering alternatives to the traditional nuclear household model that better accommodated a variety of family structures.

In 1984, Kennedy won the Robin Boyd Award for Residential Architecture from the Australian Institute of Architects for the Downes-Stoney residence in East Perth. She was the first female recipient of the award. Kennedy was also the first woman appointed to the Architects Board of Western Australia. She is the designer of the Perth Mosman Park Tea Rooms, the Pines Business Centre in Cottesloe, and numerous other structures throughout Western Australia.