Corbett Lyon

Corbett started at Brighton Grammar in 1961 where he spent his whole school career, graduating in 1973 as Dux. Upon completing his studies in architecture at the University of Melbourne in 1979, he won an International Fellowship to study a Master of Architecture program at the University of Pennsylvania.

Upon his return to Australian in 1981, Corbett established the architectural firm Lyon + Lyon (later Lyons) with brothers Cameron (OB 1974) and Carey (OB 1976). The firm has since grown to be one of Australia’s leading architectural design practices renowned for its dramatic experimental style. It has been recognised through multiple national and international design awards for its university, commercial and institutional building designs, including the Australian National University’s John Curtin School of Medical Research, Melbourne Zoo’s Butterfly House and Brisbane’s Queensland Children’s Hospital.

Corbett has taught architectural design at the University of Melbourne, where he is a Visiting Professor, since 1984. In 2017 he was awarded an Honorary Doctorate in recognition of his contribution to architectural education and architecture and the arts.

Corbett is also a leading collector and patron of contemporary Australian art, with one of the largest collections of its type in the country. In 2009, he designed the Lyon Housemuseum in Kew and, together with his wife Yueji, opened the unique combination of private residence and private museum to the public. 

In 2012, he established the not-for-profit Lyon Foundation and funded the construction of a new public art museum adjacent to the Housemuseum. Opened to the public early in 2019, the museum showcases national exhibitions of contemporary art, architecture and design. In 2023 the Lyons gifted their Housemuseum to the Foundation bringing the two buildings together under public ownership.