The Jagera, Yuggera and Ugarapul peoples
Queensland
Darling Downs and West Moreton
The Cameron Park and Richardson Park Amenities upgrades demonstrate how modest public buildings can be renewed through considered design. Delivered for Ipswich City Council, the projects refurbish and retain original 1960s amenities buildings, extending their life while meeting contemporary expectations for safety, accessibility and everyday use.
Rather than pursuing wholesale replacement, the projects focus on identifying and retaining what mattered. A series of light-touch interventions extend the life of the buildings, preserve their character and deliver durable, low-maintenance outcomes within tight budget constraints. This approach ensured the upgrades remained financially achievable while avoiding the loss of familiarity and civic value often associated with standardised replacements.
Retaining the buildings allowed the amenities to support community activities beyond their primary function, while improving legibility, safety and usability. Small in scale but deliberate in intent, the projects demonstrate how thoughtful refurbishment can set a positive precedent, encouraging renewed confidence in existing public infrastructure.
The Ipswich City Council Public Amenities project demonstrates how a modest brief can be elevated through disciplined design, close collaboration with an engaged client and a clear architectural framework. Delivered across two sites, the project upgrades ageing structures with established safety and accessibility deficiencies, retaining primary fabric and working largely within the existing footprint.
Within these constraints, the architects have produced two distinct yet related outcomes. A consistent conceptual approach is applied across both sites and carefully adapted to respond to differing contexts, resulting in architecture that is specific rather than repetitive. This clarity underpins the strength of the project.
The interventions are deliberate and restrained. A simple, robust material palette is paired with considered use of colour, landscape integration and careful planning to improve passive surveillance, accessibility and user comfort. These moves transform buildings typically associated with neglect into spaces that are legible, safe and welcoming.
Despite limited resources, the architects have fully engaged the brief, delivering an outcome that is sustainable, durable and civic-minded. The result is a pair of small buildings with an outsized contribution to their communities, setting a benchmark for how everyday public infrastructure can be rethought through architecture.
The Ipswich City Council Public Amenities project demonstrates how a modest brief can be elevated through disciplined design and a clear architectural idea. Delivered across two sites, the projects work within existing c1960/70s structures, retaining core fabric while improving safety, accessibility and amenity. A consistent approach, carefully adapted to each context, results in architecture that is specific rather than repetitive. Through restrained interventions, robust material selection and thoughtful planning, the project transforms overlooked facilities into legible, safe and welcoming civic infrastructure.
William Hodgen Award for Building of the Year
The Ipswich City Council Public Amenities project demonstrates how a modest brief can be elevated through disciplined design, close collaboration with an engaged client and a clear architectural framework. Delivered across two sites, the project upgrades ageing structures with established safety and accessibility deficiencies, retaining primary fabric and working largely within the existing footprint.
Within these constraints, the architects have produced two distinct yet related outcomes. A consistent conceptual approach is applied across both sites and carefully adapted to respond to differing contexts, resulting in architecture that is specific rather than repetitive. This clarity underpins the strength of the project.
The interventions are deliberate and restrained. A simple, robust material palette is paired with considered use of colour, landscape integration and careful planning to improve passive surveillance, accessibility and user comfort. These moves transform buildings typically associated with neglect into spaces that are legible, safe and welcoming.
Despite limited resources, the architects have fully engaged the brief, delivering an outcome that is sustainable, durable and civic-minded. The result is a pair of small buildings with an outsized contribution to their communities, setting a benchmark for how everyday public infrastructure can be rethought through architecture.
Commendation for Small Project Architecture
The Ipswich City Council Public Amenities project demonstrates how a modest brief can be elevated through disciplined design and a clear architectural idea. Delivered across two sites, the projects work within existing c1960/70s structures, retaining core fabric while improving safety, accessibility and amenity. A consistent approach, carefully adapted to each context, results in architecture that is specific rather than repetitive. Through restrained interventions, robust material selection and thoughtful planning, the project transforms overlooked facilities into legible, safe and welcoming civic infrastructure.
EmAGN Project Award shortlist, Sustainability shortlist
The upgraded amenities at Cameron and Richardson Park support their parks as inclusive, well-functioning public spaces through the refurbishment and retention of the existing buildings. The projects deliver durable, accessible facilities with improved passive surveillance and long-term maintenance outcomes. At Cameron Park, the amenities continue to function as a shaded gathering space for community activities, retaining flexibility and use, that would have been lost through a standardised, site-agnostic replacement. Both amenities have been well received by the community, contributing to increased park use and reinforcing the long-term value of these parks as shared civic assets.
Joel Alcorn, Design Architect
Chloe Middleton, Project Architect
PLACE Design Group, Landscape Consultant
Hunt Michel & Partners, Structural Engineer
Built Environment Collective, Hydraulic Consultant
Built Environment Collective, Electrical Consultant
Flavio Costanzo & Associates, Quantity Surveyor