An Evening with the DIA: Honouring QLD’s Design Fellows at Krost Brisbane

Last week, our East Brisbane showroom opened its doors to the Design Institute of Australia (DIA)'s Queensland Council for an evening built around a singular purpose: recognising three designers whose work has shaped the profession across the state.

The showroom filled with architects, interior designers, and commercial leaders from across QLD's A&D community. Conversation moved naturally between the surrounding settings and the core reason for the gathering. Three Fellowships were being awarded, reflecting decades of quiet rigour and discipline.

Honouring QLD’s newest DIA fellows

Dr Christoph Koch

QUT Industrial Design Lecturer & Practitioner

Working at the intersection of advanced manufacturing and digital product design, Dr Christoph Koch’s DIA Fellowship recognises a career spent bridging academia and practical application, from research into parametric CAD and mass-customisation to active collaboration with local industry partners like Evolution.

Beyond the studio, Dr Koch demonstrated his service to the profession through his tenure on the DIA Queensland Branch committee (2023–25), dedicating himself to welcoming new students and emerging practitioners into the industry.

Exemplifying the core ideals of the Fellowship: leadership, mentorship, and lasting community contribution.

Prof. Marcus Foth

Professor of Strategic Design, QUT School of Design

Founder of QUT's Urban Informatics Research Lab in 2006, Prof. Foth established urban informatics as an independent field. His DIA Fellowship recognises nearly two decades of pioneering research across digital civics and more-than-human futures, work that continues to shape how design practitioners evaluate technology's role within civic and community spaces.

A true visionary exemplifying leadership, professional excellence, and a sustained, generous contribution to the design community.

Paloma Hodgins

DIA Queensland Branch Councillor & Design Educator

Having taught across Queensland’s tertiary institutions, including the University of Southern Queensland, TAFE Queensland, and the University of the Sunshine Coast, Hodgins was awarded the DIA Fellowship for her outstanding contribution to the profession.

She has focused her career on mentoring emerging practitioners and building genuine professional networks, providing Queensland’s rising designers with a structured, grounded entry into practice.

Embodying the Fellowship’s core ideals of leadership, mentorship, and sustained service to the design community.

Three distinct disciplines, three individual paths, united by one common thread: sustained, generous contribution to the profession.

Hosting the community

Krost has built its business on local manufacturing and long-standing industry relationships, making an evening of this nature particularly meaningful. Our East Brisbane showroom is engineered as an active, working resource for the design community rather than a static display floor. Co-hosting the evening alongside the DIA was a privilege. It is rare for a working showroom to serve as the backdrop for a lifetime achievement milestone.

We extend our congratulations to Dr Christoph Koch, Prof. Marcus Foth, and Paloma Hodgins on this recognition, and express our gratitude to the DIA Queensland for celebrating the occasion at our new Krost Brisbane.

Our showroom at 936 Stanley St, East Brisbane, remains open to the architects, interior designers, and workplace strategists shaping QLD’s commercial environments. We invite you to drop in and continue the conversation.

Browse the highlights from the evening in the gallery below.