Plan Making in Woolloongabba, QLD

What makes a sustainable building in neighbourhoods experiencing growth, development, and change?

The inner-city suburb of Woolloongabba, Brisbane, like many other inner suburban neighbourhoods in Australia, is experiencing fast growth and development. For residents, concerns exist around the development of large ‘eyesore’ apartments that undermine existing community character and how these large developments will further exacerbate existing urban challenges such as congestion, mobility, and preservation of urban character. For this studio, planning students were challenged to create a regeneration planning strategy around how to develop buildings that are environmentally appropriate, economically viable and socially restorative in its urban context. Placemaking, albeit not the focus of the studio, was integrated to bring a stronger social dimension to the conceptualisation of sustainable buildings and how buildings as places can foster social wellbeing and vitality in their urban environment.

Students in this studio were able to engage a quasi-real-world project, growing their skills practically as planners to support students in bridging theory and practice. With support from the project champion and experienced placemaker, John Mongard, students were encouraged to embrace placemaking and integrate the theory into their work. The design challenge for students focused on planning processes and unpacking the issues around sustainable design implementation within existing planning regulations. They had to conceive of a plan that would address the environmental, social and economic aspects of a sustainable building in a way that enhanced and revitalised the surrounding neighbourhood.