Helen Tippett

Helen Margaret Tippett (23 March 1933 – 11 February 2004) was a professor of architecture in Australasia. Her career in academia began in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, in 1969, where she taught 'Design and Practice and Management'. She worked as an architect throughout the Middle East.

She moved to New Zealand, where she was Dean of Architecture at Victoria University of Wellington from 1980 to 1983 during the architecture school's early years and helped set its tone. alongside the first Dean Gerd Block. In this position she was the first woman professor of architecture in Australasia, and Victoria University's first woman dean. She later moved into professional practice, co-founding The Architects Collaborative in Wellington.

In 1989, Tippett became the first woman to be elected president of the New Zealand Institute of Architects. She was also very influential in the building industry in New Zealand, and her work resulted in New Zealand's first official building code, and the Building Act 1991. She helped to establish the National Association of Women in Construction (New Zealand).

Education and early career
Tippet was born on 23 March 1933 and studied architecture at Melbourne University in the early 1950s, where her peers' description of her work at this time reveals "a determination to solve problems of careful planning analysis and building production as part of the design process".

Recognition
Tippett received the New Zealand Institute of Building medal in 1989, and was awarded a leadership award by the Master Builders Federation in 1990. She was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire, for services to architecture in the 1994 Queen's Birthday Honours.

Personal life
Tippett died on 11 February 2004. The same year, an archive of material collected and produced by Tippett was transferred to Victoria University of Wellington.

Legacy
The National Association of Women in Construction (New Zealand) gives an annual award in her name, to a person or organisation who has "furthered the interests of women in the construction industry".