Dorrington House | Whiteroom Architects
Dorrington House is a multigenerational family home is transformed from a 70-year-old, postwar, Queenslander. A survivor of a lift, extension, and a smattering of faux character, this alterations and additions project has transformed its functionality to house three generations.
The house engages outwardly in a way that is both respectful of the character of its place and is an individual and honest expression of its own time. It strives to tell the story of how it was created. It marks a new chapter in this house’s journey, traditional of Queenslanders, each modified by successive owners, leaving their unique mark. We respect what came before us here, and we plan for this chapter to endure, for quite some time yet.
East Toowoomba Renovation | Kin Architects
East Toowoomba Renovation distils an abundance of ideas into an enriched long-term home for a family of six. A careful renovation and rear extension to our clients’ humble cottage has retained its charm and street presence, while allowing it to deftly accommodate four kids and two parents who work from home. The L-shaped extension wraps around the cottage, forming courtyards where the two meet, and houses generous shared spaces that open seamlessly to their garden. Fairy gardens, ‘rat runs’ and thoughtful kids’ retreats are integrated throughout the home, infusing it with child-centric magic. Grounded in pragmatism, including meticulously designed workflows and a tailored office for each parent, the design responds to the busyness of our clients’ daily lives – but more importantly, it connects to their beloved landscape, prioritises moments of delight and fosters togetherness for this close-knit, community-minded family.
Eromanga Natural History Museum | Architectus
The Eromanga Natural History Museum is designed to showcase the museums collections and activities to the public, provide exceptional research facilities, and prepare for a future exhibition space.
The project includes an entry building with public spaces, a courtyard and workplace. A research building houses labs and spaces for fossil preparation and storage.
On Boonthamurra Country in remote Queensland, the museums simple yet elegant concrete form sits comfortably within the landscape. From a low ridgeline, it opens to views of bloodwood trees and gilgai wetlands, while its canopy provides shade and textured walls respond to light conditions.
Understanding the remote context and the clients notforprofit status, the team designed the museum to withstand extreme temperatures and selected robust systems and materials to minimise costs.
Close collaboration and thoughtful design have resulted in a museum that is memorable and engaging for visitors and supportive and inspiring for staff and volunteers.
Gin Gin State High School New Administration Building | Giarola Architects
Gin Gin State High School’s new administration building sets a new standard in educational infrastructure. Acting as the primary point of contact, this building is more than just an administrative hub; it’s a landmark symbolizing accessibility and community integration. The standout feature, a stunning rammed earth wall, replaces traditional, unwelcoming school barriers with a welcoming, secure entrance, harmonizing with the regional architectural style. Inside, the design prioritizes functionality and staff wellbeing. With a raised ceiling for natural light, a simple layout for effective ventilation, and a large, strategically placed staff room, the building champions a comfortable working environment. The flexible conference area reflects our commitment to staff development. Adhering to sustainable practices and cost-effective construction, this project illustrates our dedication to creating spaces that are environmentally friendly, functional, and aligned with the educational ethos of serving and inspiring our community.
Golden Breed Noosa | Andrew Bock Architecture
Golden Breed has had a long connection with Noosa and has provided much to its surfing community over those years. The new flagship HQ is prominently located at the southern gateway to Noosa Heads tourist zone, so it was important to reflect the vision of a quality landmark that instantly communicated the brand ethos.
Architecturally, it displays a balance of simplicity and robust expression. Contemporary planning and pragmatism mixed with subtle references to old Noosa coastal Queenslander architecture and nearby Halse Lodge create a timeless blend.
The building form contributes positively to its context through its stepped and scaled form and visual excitement preserving four majestic mature trees whilst providing efficient retail access, a welcoming entry deck, and a separate apartment with private roof deck over.
Golden Breed Noosa seamlessly weaves aesthetics, history, and practicality and invites visitors to experience a reinterpreted lost Noosa, where tradition and modernity coexist.
Good Samaritan College, Polding Place | Speculative Architecture and Brammer Architects, architects in association
With a focus upon student wellbeing and community engagement, Polding Place at Good Samaritan College Toowoomba contains classrooms, Food Technology teaching spaces with a commercial kitchen, Cafe, and a Design Technology workshop. Each space is naturally ventilated with good access to breezes and controlled daylight. Outdoor learning spaces are located adjacent to traditional teaching spaces and are flexible for social activities. Materials and niches have been selected that are robust, with low maintenance, while providing continuity with the existing campus buildings to reinforce the identity and history of the College.
The main social space of the College is revitalised by the new building framing, and providing an active social edge to, a central courtyard. Integrated planting, through vines and shade trees, mediate the outdoor spaces to provide cool and social landscapes to be enjoyed.
Great Barrier Reef Arena | Cox Architecture
Designed by Cox Architecture and built by the community, for the community, Mackay’s Great Barrier Reef Arena is a hub for Culture, Sports, and Community celebrations. The Arena offers world-class facilities for a diverse range of events, including concerts, elite sports, and cultural festivals.
The design emulates the colours, cultures, and landscape typical of the region. Indigenous culture and traditions, the early Maltese immigrants and the people that have built this region are celebrated in the design. The new grandstand is deeply rooted into the landscape and is conceived as growing out of the landscape. Its roof, founded in the new plaza, slowly rises as it hugs the oval to cover the players and media facility. It floats over a rusticated ribbed wall that grows out of the landscape, establishing a unique simplicity of two elements, one hovering over the other.
Hassell Studio Brisbane | Hassell
Hassell’s new Brisbane studio, located on Yuggera and Turrbal Country, is housed within the old Peter’s Ice Cream Factory at West Village, West End. Workspaces enable collaboration, visibility, and flexibility, support agile working, and give staff greater autonomy as they choose their daily setting depending on their needs.
Abundant natural light and lush subtropical planting provide visual relief and calm to support staff wellbeing. Rough edges and historical graffiti have been preserved and softened with natural, sustainable finishes like cork and terracotta. The studio’s adaptability supports after dark client events and community gatherings.
High Street | Lineburg Wang
A tiny pre1911 cottage on a tiny 253m2 site, the design works hard to find generosity.
The existing house is moved forward, a relaxation to all boundary edges enables enough space to construct one special room to the rear.
The project builds less in order to provide generosity on a constrained site the special room remains flexible, void of any fixed walls or cabinetry that could dictate the permanence of the occupant’s routine.
The room is an empty square, serviced by a utility core, circumnavigated by a split-level stair. By removing obstacles, the special room is free, occupied only by loose furnishings, changeable. With doors open, the internal and external public space operates as a single volume, sharing the same brick materiality.
The project challenges the commonly prescribed room requirements of today’s homes, working with strategies of expanding constrained space to ensure the small site does not feel small.
Home Consortium Early Learning Centre, Richlands | Cox Architecture
The Richlands Early Learning Centre transforms a dormant warehouse building into a welcoming childcare centre for Guardian. The adaptive reuse of the unused building provides a highly sustainable model of development whereby the embodied energy and carbon used to create the original building is retained and given new life, bypassing the wasteful process of demolition and reconstruction.
The design is organised around the idea that all movement is made along a verandah like space synonymous with Queensland’s lifestyle and climate. A perforated screen forms a continuous ribbon that frames the central outdoor play space and filters light like lattice on a verandah, designed to evoke memories of home.
The interior spaces are restrained and a palette of warm oak and pastel green combines with white lofted ceiling spaces to create a calming environment where the creative works of the children can take centre stage.