{"id":761550,"date":"2026-06-26T12:45:17","date_gmt":"2026-06-26T12:45:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/761550\/"},"modified":"2026-06-26T12:45:17","modified_gmt":"2026-06-26T12:45:17","slug":"canal-side-class-and-radical-reinventions-bold-designs-dominate-2026-queensland-architecture-awards-queensland","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/761550\/","title":{"rendered":"Canal-side class and radical reinventions: bold designs dominate 2026 Queensland Architecture awards | Queensland"},"content":{"rendered":"

The 2026 Queensland Architecture<\/a> awards have unveiled a slate of projects that signal a new chapter in the state\u2019s built environment.<\/p>\n

This year\u2019s winners pushed the design boundary across every category, judges said, showcasing a level of ambition that stretched from Brisbane\u2019s core to the far reaches of regional Queensland<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Boldness was one of the standout themes in this year\u2019s award winners the jury chair, Prof Michael Keniger, said.<\/p>\n

\u201c[There are] many examples of adventurous and ambitious commercial and community buildings that are helping to revitalise Brisbane\u2019s CBD,\u201d he said in a statement.<\/p>\n

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\u201cAll in all, the 2026 Queensland Architecture awards program offers a broad spectrum of inviting and purposeful architecture that taken together illustrates the possibilities for an enhanced and vibrant future.\u201d<\/p>\n

Taking out top honours with the Queensland Medallion was a North Quay commercial high rise overlooking the Brisbane River.<\/p>\n

BNE Commercial Tower\u2019s exterior. The product of a Cbus Property design competition. Photograph: David Chatfield<\/p>\n

The Hassell, REX, Richards & Spence collaboration for BNE Commercial Tower was the outcome of a design competition launched by Cbus Property, and features an elevated commercial lobby with a shaded open-air public plaza beneath. The tower offers workers high rise landscaped outdoor terraces off the sides of the building.<\/p>\n

The project also won the Beatrice Hutton award for commercial architecture and the art and architecture prize, recognising the 31-metre long bas-relief sculpture by Brisbane-based artist Bruce Reynolds called City Reach, cast in situ across the full underside of the Herschel Street awning.<\/p>\n

205 North Quay by Hassell, REX, Richards & Spence. Photograph: Cieran Murphy<\/p>\n

Judges praised the bravura of the design and its capacity to foster an inventive and generous relationship between the tower and its setting.<\/p>\n

The exterior of BNE Commercial Tower. Photograph: David Chatfield<\/p>\n

A radical reimagining of the traditional Queenslander won Peter Besley the Robin Dods award for residential architecture for his home.<\/p>\n

Rising from bushland in Mount Coot-tha just 6km west of Brisbane\u2019s CBD, \u201cBirdwood\u201d was also praised by judges for its daring.<\/p>\n

Birdwood, by Peter Besley. Photograph: Rory Gardiner<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is a sedate and well understood range of understandings that define the qualities and resilience of the conventional Queenslander house,\u201d they said.<\/p>\n

\u201cVirtually all of these are overturned and challenged by the adventurous shaping and redefining of the design of Birdwood.<\/p>\n

Birdwood was designed with Queensland\u2019s climate in mind. Photograph: Rory Gardiner<\/p>\n

\u201cOverall, this is an adventurous house that brings to life alternative and imaginative ways houses might better respond to the demands of Queensland\u2019s climate.\u201d<\/p>\n

Another residential award winner was a canal-side multigenerational home on the Gold Coast, created by Burleigh Heads architecture firm ME.<\/p>\n

The Dolphin Court House was admired by judges for its \u201cconsidered rather than ostentatious\u201d design, making it a \u201ccalm and confident addition to the Gold Coast waterfront\u201d.<\/p>\n

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Dolphin Court House interior. Photograph: Christopher Frederick Jones<\/p>\n

The home also won an award for interior architecture, commended for its carefully orchestrated procession from gate to courtyard, to living spaces and beyond. The staircase at the centre of the open-plan design was described by judges as \u201ca sculptural theatre piece in steel\u201d, rising from a plinth clad in earthy Australian red stone and timber.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe detailing throughout is meticulous and superbly executed,\u201d judges said.<\/p>\n

\u201cRecycled timber, terrazzo and locally sourced stone complete a palette that is warm, tactile and consciously Australian.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dolphin Court House. Photograph: Christopher Frederick Jones<\/p>\n

Sharing the award for interior architecture was the University of Queensland\u2019s Plant Futures Facility. The new research centre was also one of the winners in the educational architecture category.<\/p>\n

The m3architecture design featuring multi-hued layered brickwork and curved edges created a conceptual walled garden, the judges said, masterfully fulfilling a challenging windowless brief essential to preserve the climate controlled artificial internal environments.<\/p>\n

University of Queensland\u2019s Plant Futures Facility. Photograph: Christopher Frederick Jones<\/p>\n

Externally the building resembled a club sandwich, they noted, while internally, whimsical curvilinear mirror walls gave it a \u201cKubrickian-like atmosphere\u201d.<\/p>\n

One of two heritage awards went to the upgrade of a turn of the 20th-century police station in the rural township of Warwick in south-west Queensland, which has a notable collection of heritage buildings constructed from the local sandstone.<\/p>\n

Warwick police station. Photograph: Tom Blessing<\/p>\n

Phillips Smith Conwell Architects had completed the project with only crucial keyhole modifications to the original building, judges said, while the integration of the heritage component and the new contemporary annexe had been done attentively.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe project reflects a range of regional sensitivities and a mature handling of site elements,\u201d they said.<\/p>\n

A Middle Eastern restaurant in Brisbane\u2019s CBD was the third winner in the interiors category.<\/p>\n

Golden Avenue by J.AR Office is \u2018an institution in the making\u2019. Photograph: David Chatfield<\/p>\n

J.AR Office\u2019s design for Golden Avenue was recognised for its \u201cbold and indelible\u201d contribution to the city\u2019s epicurean culture, with its opulent nod to the Gardens of Babylon, pulling the outdoors inside.<\/p>\n

With its rich balance of delicate Murano glass with robust concrete, granite and marble, the design exuded a quality of \u201cdecadent subterranean permanence and durability\u201d judges said, making the restaurant a memorable venue that was \u201can institution in the making\u201d.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The 2026 Queensland Architecture awards have unveiled a slate of projects that signal a new chapter in the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":761551,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[449,458,459,64,63,460,134],"class_list":["post-761550","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-arts-and-design","tag-arts","tag-arts-and-design","tag-artsanddesign","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-design","tag-entertainment"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/761550","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=761550"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/761550\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/761551"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=761550"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=761550"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=761550"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}