Northbourne Avenue Flats | A Walking Tour with the FixIt Chicks
Jenny Edwards and Lish Fejer (The FixIt Chicks)
10 + 12 November 2026
Day + Time | Tuesday 10 November, 5.30-7.00pm | Thursday 12 November, 5.30-7.00pm
Location | TBD, Northbourne Avenue, Dickson 2600
Entry | General Public Ticket $35 ($28 early bird) | Members $29 ($23 early bird) | Bookings Essential | Early bird closes 23 October 2026. Not a member? JOIN HERE. Student membership is free.
Access | template, template, template
The Northbourne Avenue flats are a piece of Canberra design history hiding in plain sight. Built in the 1950s and 1960s as elegant, low-rise public housing along the capital’s ceremonial entrance, the flats embodied a postwar belief that good design and quality housing were a public right. Decades later, much of the original stock has been demolished but a significant remnant has been retained, renovated and reimagined for contemporary living by Canberra based developers Art Group.
Join The Fix It Chicks, architect Jenny Edwards and broadcaster Lish Fejer, for an evening walking tour exploring how these mid-century flats have been retrofitted for the next generation. The tour includes access inside one of the retrofitted maisonettes, offering a rare look at how careful design has brough new life to a heritage building without losing its mid-century character.
The tour asks what we can learn from buildings that were almost lost: what good retrofit looks like, why retaining existing housing is one of the most powerful climate decisions a city can make, and how design dissents against the default of demolition. With Jenny’s eye and Lish’s curiosity for how things work, expect sharp observations, plenty of laughs and a fresh way of seeing buildings most Canberrans drive past without a second glance.
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Jenny Edwards is a building scientist and director of Lighthouse Archi Science, a Canberra-based consultancy specialising in energy-efficient, climate-conscious building design. She holds a Masters of Science and in 2008 introduced the building envelope testing techniques of thermal imaging and air leakage testing to the Canberra region. In 2019 the ACT branch of the Australian Institute of Architects awarded Jenny the Clem Cummings prize for outstanding contribution to architecture and the built environment.
Lish Fejer is ABC Radio Canberra’s Morning presenter, a science communicator and broadcaster. She moved to Canberra to study science at the ANU and trained through the Questacon Science Circus program before working in science communication as a presenter, speaker, writer and exhibition developer. She joined ABC Radio Canberra in 2010.
Together Jenny and Lish are The FixIt Chicks, teaching practical, sustainable ways to live well with a focus on energy efficiency, repair culture and making science and design accessible, sharp and fun.
SEE INSTAGRAM HERE
Proudly supported by Art Group
Images | View of Ethos sculpture in Canberra’s Civic Square | View of Parliament House from Mount Ainslie 1970 | Photos courtesy of Canberra Modern