QUEENSLAND SHORTLIST
URBAN DESIGN
Category
Introducing the Shortlist for URBAN DESIGN
The following projects have been shortlisted for the 2022 Queensland Architectural Awards, in the Urban Design Category. This page will continue to list shortlisted project until the last of the 2022 Queensland Regional Events have concluded in Townsville on the 10th of June 2022. The result of the 2022 Queensland Architecture awards will be revealed via livestream, which will be shown at the presentation event on the 24th of June 2022 at the State Library of Queensland, and also available via Youtube.
University of Queensland Gatton Campus Heart & Entry
The University of Queensland’s Gatton Campus has grown to be a key part of the university’s educational legacy and, through continual growth, provides critical research and education in the environmental and animal husbandry fields of expertise. Lat27 was engaged to develop and implement a design for the arrival precinct and central spine with a vision to strengthen the connections between the campus’s historic and contemporary fabric; enhancing the sense of arrival and creating an activated and enhanced heart.
The built outcome has delivered a vibrant central green heart that unifies the campus and is complement by new activated places for outdoor learning and social gathering.
By Lat27
Photography by Christopher Frederick Jones
Citation:
University of Queensland Gatton Campus Heart & Entry provides a reinvigoration of an underutilized historic spine that was climatically uncomfortable. The pragmatic solution of adjusting site levels for equitable access and replacing pavement with lawns, resulted in well shaded edges for respite, interstitial space between spine and existing built form. A pair of new outdoor carefully detailed structures highlighting the arrival points to each building. The introduction of protected outdoor gathering and learning spaces is the seamless integration of architecture and landscape. The palette of materials complements the existing built form and references the existing brutalist buildings. The design response reinforces this spine as the element that unifies the disparate collection of campus buildings.
Rowes Precinct
The Rowes Precinct is a significant redevelopment of existing historical buildings across one entire city block in the heart of the Toowoomba CBD. Aspect spent 5 years carefully crafting an Architectural outcome for the precinct that is worthy of both its location and history. The redevelopment involved the repurposing of the existing Rowes family retail complex and adjacent sites into an amalgamated commercial precinct that includes significant street
interaction and activation through a public plaza and gardens.
The redevelopment has been a complex process of consolidation, repurposing and new architectural extensions. A considerable portion of the new buildings have been constructed using recycled bricks, with unusual interiordetailing incorporating recycled timber, antique cold room doors, wagon wheels and original signage. Critical to the inclusion of the historical recycled materials was a noted intent not to create quirky spaces, rather a considered contemporary offering reflective of the current times.
Citation:
Rowes Precinct redevelopment reestablishes the importance of the rich history of this prominent site through the reuse and unification of seven heritage buildings, repurposed and upgraded to attract local creative and commercial tenants. Outdoor communal spaces provide a collaborative environment for occupants to engage with each other and the community in a meaningful way. The development reactivates existing laneways to increase security and provide welcoming outdoor spaces and amenity. A conscious choice has been made by the client and the architect to reinvigorate and engage with the CBD fringe precinct by encompassing and celebrating of Toowoomba’s past present and future.
Montessori International College 2020-2040 Master Plan
Montessori International College’s (MIC) place vision is to be a green school, responding to the unique assets and ecological constraints of the site, whereby the place becomes a learning resource for children and the community. MIC relocated its school campus from Sippy Downs to Forest Glen in 2015. The original masterplan (2012) catered for the needs of a modest, small school capped at a student population of 420.
A MIC Master Plan review was required to ensure strategic alignment between the organisational vision, financial model, and place vision for the college, and to formulate the long-term design strategies to guide eco-efficient development and biophilic architecture for the next 20-year time horizon. The MIC 2020-2040 vison is to be a Village of Learners with a capped population of 850 students.
Campus site planning optimises biodiversity conservation, land rehabilitation and building orientation northwards for natural daylighting, ventilation, and subtropical thermal passive design.
By PlaceSense
Photography By Phillip Daffara
Citation:
Much more than a perfunctory step in the process of delivering architecture this project is a reminder that master-planning can be a tool for deep-engagement with the broader school community to future proof place. Unlocking a deeper process of enquiry about resilience, growth, flexibility and pedagogical processes brought significant value to the client; to build confidence about sustainable approaches to a technically challenging site in a fast-growing regional setting.
The embedded resilience in the master plan process, built confidence and trust in the client/consultant team allowing successful navigation of planning challenges and demonstrates an enduring ecological legacy for future incremental growth of this living laboratory.
Brisbane South State Secondary College
Brisbane South State Secondary College, the city’s newest vertical campus, offers next level learning connected with the contemporary knowledge network and the country it is bound to – a ridge historically used for camping, weaving and the making of tools by the local First Nations.
Visitors are welcomed within a generous arrival court into a memorable and vibrant central native garden, a magnet for community into the campus. Open galleries across all levels fringe the garden, encouraging interactions and framing views to the surrounding landscape.
Multi-discipline learning hubs are characterised by open and adaptable spaces arranged around double height presentation and making settings in order to share the benefits of education with all.
The architectural language is derived from the First Nations heritage of the site as a place of making, informing the scored details within the concrete facade, as well as harnessing a local palette of colours and materials.
By BVN
Photography by Christopher Frederick Jones
Citation:
The College is a masterly work of Architecture at all scales, elevating what is essentially a real estate problem of small inner-city sites with large student catchments into a heralding of the education and experiential potential of ‘vertical’ schools in humid sub-tropical climates. The client’s ambitious pedagogic agenda for the College has been realised through a thorough, architect led ‘in project’ research and development of bespoke programmatic and spatial arrangements across the campus. Negotiating a fragmented procurement process, the architects have demonstrated aplomb through development of a resilient, refined, technically astute & refreshingly unfussy material approach, delivering an original spatial, tectonic and landscape language through deep readings of place and country.
Andrew N. Liveris Building
This flagship project for UQ incorporates a range of interconnected spaces with overlapping boundaries between learning, research and industry via a design encouraging a sense of shared discovery and collaboration. The building positions UQ into the future while also playing homage to its past, with a unique energy-efficient glass facade clad in a distinctive transparent veil derived conceptually from the chemical engineering process of turning sandstone into glass – with colours sampled directly from the nearby Great Court. Its compact vertical urban form provides informal learning spaces for students and staff, reclaiming half of the site for landscape spaces. These landscapes are connected to formal and informal student learning spaces visible from the campus via open interconnected ‘pod’ balconies. A central atrium space, derived from the form of the Great Court, links together the learning/research activities of the School of Chemical Engineering into a singular and highly connected collaborative environment.
By Lyons + m3architecture
Photography by Christopher Frederick Jones and Lyons
Citation:
This design is an intelligent response to the brief, focused on maintaining the School of Chemical Engineering at the University of Queensland as an international leader in chemical engineering education and research. Drawing inspiration from its surroundings and guiding principles of connectedness and openness this rational holistic design response respectfully embraces the importance of students, urban form, landscapes, colours and the materials of the campus and transposes them all into a future focused architecture. Through rigorous design, technical explorations and careful interpretation of the client’s pedagogical brief, Lyon and m3architecture provide a design, which truly enlivens the spirit of both students and teaching staff. This is an excellent example of a well-considered learning environment, which will further advance the performance of engineering research and learning at the University.
