“Surround yourself with people who challenge you, inspire you and fuel your evolution, and stay endlessly curious.”
– TENILLE TEAKLE
After graduating from North Metro TAFE in 2011, Tenille joined MKDC, rising from graduate to Associate Director in seven years before moving to Woods Bagot as Senior Designer. Over eight years, she shaped leading workplaces and now channels that experience into Gritt Studio – specialising in residential interiors and sharing design thinking widely. Known for curiosity, rigour, and persistence, Tenille believes great design comes from perseverance and purpose – the essence of grit.
What first brought you to NM TAFE, and what did you hope to achieve when you arrived?
Like many designers, my childhood was full of sketches, bedroom makeovers, and makeshift cubbies. I loved organising, building, and leading. After narrowly missing the TEE score for Architecture, my mum suggested Interior Design at TAFE – and it became the best decision of my career. That early setback drove me to become the most sought-after student and land a dream role. Silver linings are everywhere if you choose to see them, and I believe interior-led architecture is powerful, emotive, and impactful.
What’s a defining memory or moment from your time at TAFE that has stayed with you?
In third year we had to design and manufacture a functioning timepiece. It became highly technical, centred on cost and the realities of making something that actually worked. I was stubborn, convinced form was everything, and didn’t see the point of a working model. Only later did I realise how valuable it was to learn to source, brief, budget and deliver. Never underestimate communication, timelines and craft, they’re as essential to your career as creating beautiful, functional spaces.
What are you working on now, and what drives your current practice?
Gritt Studio specialises in residential projects – bringing a workplace approach to future-proofing spaces, embedding stories, and designing for people, not generic future ghosts. I’m passionate about making design thinking accessible and hope to champion more design advocacy, showing how well-designed spaces can transform mindset and life experience.
How did studying at NM TAFE influence the way you work or think today?
Studying at NM TAFE absolutely influenced how I think today. TAFE was always known as the practical education institute. Less theoretical and more practical, in my opinion, the skills I learned there translated to real world projects more rapidly.
Which project, experience, or person most shaped your creative direction?
Three projects and three people have profoundly shaped the designer I am today. At KPMG Perth, working with an exceptional client team, a national stakeholder group and cultural advisor Dr Richard Walley taught me the power of collaboration, cultural storytelling and future-focused design. At Woods Bagot’s Perth Studio, we delivered the practice’s first agile workplace within a heritage site, redefining how designers work. And Karijini House, my own home and the launchpad of Gritt Studio, taught me to be brave, experimental and authentic. I owe much to Ken Anderson, Stirling Fletcher and Kaila Cicchini: Ken for creativity, Stirling for strategic leadership, and Kaila for balance and ambition. Surround yourself with people who challenge and inspire you, and stay endlessly curious.
What are you working on now, and what drives your current practice?
Gritt Studio specialises in residential projects – applying my workplace approach to future proofing space, embedding stories and designing for people – not generic future ghosts. I am passionate about making design thinking accessible to as many people as possible and hope my future holds more design advocacy and sharing how a well-designed space can impact your mindset, and experience of the world on a broader scale.
What milestone or achievement in your career feels most connected to your TAFE experience?
Honestly, all of them. Every milestone and project reflects the experiences that brought me here. Choosing Interiors instead of waiting to reapply for Architecture shaped everything. I think fast, work fast and design in intense bursts, and Interiors matches that pace. It let me see projects designed and built quickly, giving me a steep learning curve and skills architects often wait years to gain.
What does being part of NM TAFE’s 125-year creative legacy mean to you?
If my story can inspire or motivate any young designer to persevere through the hard formative years in this demanding industry, I will have done the world a favour. The more designers creating with beauty, longevity and sustainability – the better our world will be over the long term and that’s a future I imagine and aspire to for my children.
