fellowship

2025 marten bequest recipient | nicole larkin

Architect Nicole Larkin is among recipients to be awarded the 2025 Marten Bequest Travelling Scholarship in recognition of her leading work in coastal design and planning. Valued at $50,000 the grant facilitates travel-based research for successful applicants to pursue in their field of expertise. Through the grant, Nicole will undertake travel-based research to understand the challenges Australia’s coastline faces and explore leading projects abroad that grapple with sea level rise. The Marten Bequest is a national grant program administered by The Marten Bequest Foundation, supporting emerging Australian artists and architects to advance their practice.

“The pull of the ocean runs deep for Australians—over 80% of us live along the continent’s edge. This fellowship is a chance to engage with that and shape adaptive ways of living with rising seas. From ocean pools to planning policy, it’s an opportunity to pursue soft edges and strong lines—design strategies that protect, adapt, and belong uniquely to Australia’s shifting wild edge.”

— Nicole Larkin, Architect

Nicole Larkin is a coastal architect based in the Illawarra. Her work bridges landscape, infrastructure and design to explore nature-based responses to sea level rise. From ocean pools to policy, she pursues soft edges and strong lines—design strategies that protect, adapt and belong to Australia’s shifting coastal edge. Trained at the University of Sydney, Nicole works across planning, architecture and design. Since 2011, she has contributed to award-winning studios including Tzannes, EM BE CE and Aileen Sage Architects. Her practice spans from sculptural installations—exhibited at Sculpture by the Sea in 2013 and 2016—to coastal policy and strategy at the state scale.

Photo credits: Vincent Rommelaere, Tony Lam, Ben Guthrie

As east coast lows intensify and shorelines shift, vertical seawalls are increasingly used to defend waterfronts. These hard edges are effective defenses however they dimmish the public amenity and natural character of the beach. In this context, there’s a growing need for architects, engineers, designers and planners to combine design vision with technical insight to shape more responsive, place-based and nature positive coastal infrastructure. As we respond to a changing climate, many coastal cities are grappling with the challenge of ‘holding back the tide’. The Marten Bequest will support practice based research and travel to foreshore projects in Australia and abroad, drawing on lessons from real-world case studies. In accepting the support of the Bequest, the recipient acknowledges Australia’s first nations Salt Water People as the traditional custodians of Sea Country—whose unbroken connection to our coastline carries deep knowledge of place and care that continues to this day.