Celebrating ten years of providing residents and visitors a rare look inside some of Brisbane’s most remarkable buildings and urban spaces – the 2019 program was the largest and most successful yet.
When the event started, there were many sceptics. It was thought that Brisbane residents were not interested in their built environment – they have been proven wrong. The first Brisbane Open House in 2010 saw 20 buildings opened on the Open House weekend and recorded about 12,000 visits across the event. This year, 119 places were open on the weekend of 12-13 October, enticing 80,000 visitations across the event and a wide range of lead-up events including Speaker Series, After Dark and walking tours.
Open House is a simple but powerful concept: showcasing outstanding architecture for all to experience, completely free of charge. Open House initiatives invite everyone to explore and debate the value of a well-designed built environment.
The event has maintained a principle of showcasing a 50/50 ratio of new and heritage buildings. The other important principle has been that each year around 30 per cent of the buildings are different from those open the year before.
Brisbane Open House is a community event which exudes an enormous amount of goodwill. It relies on the amazing generosity of building owners, managers, architects, volunteers and a tiny band of enthusiastic staff to make it happen each year. Open House events are also held in regional Queensland centres of Gold Coast (held on 19 October), Sunshine Coast, Maryborough, Cairns and Toowoomba.
