About Gledhill Shield.
About
Gledhill Shield.
Gledhill Shield is a built-world strategy consultancy helping organisations make better decisions about place and infrastructure.
We operate where complexity is high, stakeholder environments are fragmented and long-term outcomes depend on disciplined integration of strategy, design and governance.
Our work spans transport programs, urban renewal areas, airports, health, education and cultural precincts, heritage sites and globally ambitious masterplans.
We support clients to:
Establish clear, endorsed strategic direction
Frame and test decisions in uncertain or contested environments
Align agencies, disciplines and stakeholders around shared intent
Embed governance structures that protect ambition through delivery.
Integrated leadership
for complex places.
Leadership
Leadership
Leadership
Gledhill Shield is led by Heath Gledhill and Tom Shield. Their combined experience spans strategy, design, governance and delivery across major infrastructure, precinct and city-shaping programs.
Together, they bring a rare integration of decision-stage strategy and hands-on design leadership that enables organisations to frame ambition clearly, navigate complexity with confidence, and sustain intent through delivery.
Their partnership reflects a shared belief that better outcomes for the built world depend on early integration, disciplined governance and human-centred thinking applied where decisions matter most.
Heath Gledhill
Partner — Integration, Strategy & Design
BAppSc(LscapeArch) (RMIT), MBA (AIB), AILA FRLA
Heath is a design and integration leader specialising in complex, multi-stakeholder challenges across infrastructure, precincts, and city-shaping programs.
He has worked on major Australian and international initiatives across transport, education, precinct renewal and large-scale masterplanning, bringing clarity to environments characterised by technical complexity, competing priorities and high public visibility.
Trained in landscape architecture and business management, Heath brings a design-led mindset to complex delivery systems. He is known for aligning creative ambition with engineering realities, governance structures and stakeholder expectations to deliver coherent, high-performing outcomes. His career includes senior leadership roles within global firms, where he has grown and led integrated design teams operating at scale.
Having worked across Australia, the Asia-Pacific, the Middle East and Africa, Heath brings a systems-level perspective to projects. He positions himself at the centre of complexity to unpack issues, connect conversations and align objectives, with a focus on early integration, disciplined governance and sustaining intent as projects move from vision to delivery.
A WRLDCTY Global Fellow, National President (Chair) of the Australian Institute of Landscape Architects, and member of the Open House Melbourne Building Council, Heath is a respected voice on integrated design, cross-sector collaboration and the long-term performance of cities.
Heath Gledhill
Partner — Integration, Strategy & Design
BAppSc(LscapeArch) (RMIT), MBA (AIB), AILA FRLA
Heath is a design and integration leader specialising in complex, multi-stakeholder challenges across infrastructure, precincts, and city-shaping programs.
He has worked on major Australian and international initiatives across transport, education, precinct renewal and large-scale masterplanning, bringing clarity to environments characterised by technical complexity, competing priorities and high public visibility.
Trained in landscape architecture and business management, Heath brings a design-led mindset to complex delivery systems. He is known for aligning creative ambition with engineering realities, governance structures and stakeholder expectations to deliver coherent, high-performing outcomes. His career includes senior leadership roles within global firms, where he has grown and led integrated design teams operating at scale.
Having worked across Australia, the Asia-Pacific, the Middle East and Africa, Heath brings a systems-level perspective to projects. He positions himself at the centre of complexity to unpack issues, connect conversations and align objectives, with a focus on early integration, disciplined governance and sustaining intent as projects move from vision to delivery.
A WRLDCTY Global Fellow, National President (Chair) of the Australian Institute of Landscape Architects, and member of the Open House Melbourne Building Council, Heath is a respected voice on integrated design, cross-sector collaboration and the long-term performance of cities.
Heath Gledhill
Partner — Integration, Strategy & Design
BAppSc(LscapeArch) (RMIT), MBA (AIB), AILA FRLA
Heath is a design and integration leader specialising in complex, multi-stakeholder challenges across infrastructure, precincts, and city-shaping programs.
He has worked on major Australian and international initiatives across transport, education, precinct renewal and large-scale masterplanning, bringing clarity to environments characterised by technical complexity, competing priorities and high public visibility.
Trained in landscape architecture and business management, Heath brings a design-led mindset to complex delivery systems. He is known for aligning creative ambition with engineering realities, governance structures and stakeholder expectations to deliver coherent, high-performing outcomes. His career includes senior leadership roles within global firms, where he has grown and led integrated design teams operating at scale.
Having worked across Australia, the Asia-Pacific, the Middle East and Africa, Heath brings a systems-level perspective to projects. He positions himself at the centre of complexity to unpack issues, connect conversations and align objectives, with a focus on early integration, disciplined governance and sustaining intent as projects move from vision to delivery.
A WRLDCTY Global Fellow, National President (Chair) of the Australian Institute of Landscape Architects, and member of the Open House Melbourne Building Council, Heath is a respected voice on integrated design, cross-sector collaboration and the long-term performance of cities.
Tom Shield
Partner — Foresight, Strategy & Design
BFA, BEnvDes (UTas), MUP (Hons I) (Melb), MPIA
Tom is a design and strategy leader specialising in complex, decision-stage challenges at the intersection of cities, infrastructure, and place.
His work spans some of Australia’s most consequential city-shaping initiatives, including the Metro Tunnel, Melbourne Airport Rail and Fishermans Bend, as well as masterplanning and design governance frameworks for civic, aviation, cultural and education precincts.
Tom’s training and experience across architectural design, urban planning and strategic foresight give him a rare ability to move fluently between vision and delivery. He holds qualifications in art, design and planning, complemented by executive education in strategy and innovation through Harvard Business School Online and INSEAD, and formal foresight training through EDHEC.
Having worked across both government and the private sector, Tom understands how policy, investment, governance and design intersect in practice, and where misalignment can quietly erode intent. He has led urban strategy, design and sustainability from business case through to delivery, helping major programs sustain clarity and coherence in highly complex environments.
Tom combines rigorous strategic thinking with human-centred design to help organisations navigate ambiguity, align ambition with execution and create enduring place advantage.
Tom Shield
Partner — Foresight, Strategy & Design
BFA, BEnvDes (UTas), MUP (Hons I) (Melb), MPIA
Tom is a design and strategy leader specialising in complex, decision-stage challenges at the intersection of cities, infrastructure, and place.
His work spans some of Australia’s most consequential city-shaping initiatives, including the Metro Tunnel, Melbourne Airport Rail and Fishermans Bend, as well as masterplanning and design governance frameworks for civic, aviation, cultural and education precincts.
Tom’s training and experience across architectural design, urban planning and strategic foresight give him a rare ability to move fluently between vision and delivery. He holds qualifications in art, design and planning, complemented by executive education in strategy and innovation through Harvard Business School Online and INSEAD, and formal foresight training through EDHEC.
Having worked across both government and the private sector, Tom understands how policy, investment, governance and design intersect in practice, and where misalignment can quietly erode intent. He has led urban strategy, design and sustainability from business case through to delivery, helping major programs sustain clarity and coherence in highly complex environments.
Tom combines rigorous strategic thinking with human-centred design to help organisations navigate ambiguity, align ambition with execution and create enduring place advantage.
Tom Shield
Partner — Foresight, Strategy & Design
BFA, BEnvDes (UTas), MUP (Hons I) (Melb), MPIA
Tom is a design and strategy leader specialising in complex, decision-stage challenges at the intersection of cities, infrastructure, and place.
His work spans some of Australia’s most consequential city-shaping initiatives, including the Metro Tunnel, Melbourne Airport Rail and Fishermans Bend, as well as masterplanning and design governance frameworks for civic, aviation, cultural and education precincts.
Tom’s training and experience across architectural design, urban planning and strategic foresight give him a rare ability to move fluently between vision and delivery. He holds qualifications in art, design and planning, complemented by executive education in strategy and innovation through Harvard Business School Online and INSEAD, and formal foresight training through EDHEC.
Having worked across both government and the private sector, Tom understands how policy, investment, governance and design intersect in practice, and where misalignment can quietly erode intent. He has led urban strategy, design and sustainability from business case through to delivery, helping major programs sustain clarity and coherence in highly complex environments.
Tom combines rigorous strategic thinking with human-centred design to help organisations navigate ambiguity, align ambition with execution and create enduring place advantage.