The design firm behind the tallest residential building in the Southern Hemisphere and what will be the second tallest building in the world has appointed a swathe of new leaders including a new managing director.

In its latest announcement, Fender Katsalidis said it had appointed a new managing director as well as five new principals and had promoted seven associates to associate director along with seven of its team members to the associate level.

Taking up the role of managing director will be Mark Murphy, who joined Fender Katsalidis in 2010.

Murphy joined the firm after serving thirteen years as a regional principal and group HR manager at GHD Woodhead.

He has previously served as a director of the firm and has been responsible for commercial leadership and corporate governance.

Murphy was appointed after a three-year process during which the board of directors undertook work on the practice’s leadership and management structure following a restructure in 2017.

He will work with the board, directors and principals and will assume responsibility for the company’s strategic and day-to-day management.

Completed in 2020, the Australia 108 building in Melbourne is the tallest residential building in the Southern Hemisphere with 108 floors and standing at 317m or 317 m to tip

Meanwhile, two new principals have joined the firm whilst a further three have been promoted from associate director to principal.

Of the external appointments, Rosie Morley has been appointed to lead the interior design team whilst Megan Rodgers will head the firm’s Brisbane studio.

Prior to joining Fender Katsalidis, Morley was an associate director of architecture and interior design firm Carr and has previously held roles at Dexter Moren Associates (London), Woods Bagot and NHArchitecture..

Rodgers, meanwhile, served almost nine years as a director of MODE Design in Brisbane and has held other senior roles in Brisbane and London.

Meanwhile, Jacqueline Bartholomeusz, Jessica Lee and Joe Venuto have taken on a principal role after previously holding associate director roles.

In addition, seven team members have been promoted from associate to associate director whilst seven others have been promoted to associate.

The seven new associate directors are Cliff Chang, Johnson Hasanuddin, Sarah Hurst, Wayne King, Petra Magendanz, Danny Mandrovski and Jim Stewart.

The Merdeka PNB 118 building will be the world’s second largest building.

Originally founded in 1996, Fender Katsalidis has been behind iconic buildings such as the recently completed Australia 108 which opened in Melbourne this year and is the tallest residential building in the Southern Hemisphere.

Current projects include a $2.5 billion development at Sydney’s Central Place, an overhaul of Melbourne’s Southbank precinct and the 118 storey Merdeka PNB 118 building in Malaysia’s Kuala Lumpur.

The last of these will form the centrepiece of Kuala Lumpur’s historically significant Merdeka site where Malaysia’s independence was declared in 1957.

It will rise to more than 600 meters and be the world’s second largest building behind the Burj Khalifa.