The Brisbane City Council has just released the Draft Buildings that Breathe Design Guide, which aims to provide a shared vision for achieving subtropical building design in Brisbane’s vibrant city centre.
This guide was produced through the collaboration between Urbis, Arkhefield and Brisbane City Council, following the group’s development of the Brisbane City Centre Master Plan in 2014.
Led by Urbis Associate Director Madonna Locke and National Director James Tuma, the Urbis team worked closely with Arkhefield and Brisbane Council to develop an elegant, user-friendly and multi-dimensional tool, which illustrates best-practice examples and easy-to-understand design elements.
As a non-statutory guideline, the Guide instills an overarching vision for new buildings and a design framework that will drive architecture excellence. It will become a companion document to the Brisbane Council’s City Centre Neighbourhood Plan (CCNP), by providing an inspirational design benchmark for architects, planners, developers, property professionals and the broader community.
The Draft Buildings that Breathe Design Guide is underpinned by the following eight design elements that are integral in achieving good subtropical building design:
- ORIENTATE YOURSELF
- OCCUPY OUTDOOR SPACES
- ILLUMINATE WITH DAYLIGHT
- NATURAL AIR AND VENTILATION
- SHADE AND PROTECT
- LIVING GREENERY
- IDENTITY MATTERS
- REDUCE ENERGY AND WASTE
It also includes a checklist, to assist all practitioners in understanding and responding to the requirements of the CCNP.
The guide is scheduled for final release in mid-2016, anyone interested to provide comments can email their feedback to the project team by 25 March 2016.
Download the Draft Buildings That Breathe Design Guide here
For more information about this guide, or how Urbis can assist your design requirements, please contact one of our National Design specialists below.