![\"Nick](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/1793283011_773_a7ae93672c0cee40857f45ec0221ba0e906fe976.png\")
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October 29, 2026 \u2014 10:00pm<\/p>\n
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Remove items from your saved list<\/a> to add more.<\/p>\n No gift articles left<\/p>\n You’ve used all of your gift articles. 3 more will become available on the 1st of every month.<\/p>\n Close<\/p>\n AAA<\/p>\n It looks like a layered slice of rock dug out of the earth and placed on the University of Queensland grounds.<\/p>\n A pair of greenhouses sitting on top enhance this illusion, while inside, hidden from view, researchers are working like so many ants on how to feed a changing world.<\/p>\n This is the Plant Futures Facility at the University of Queensland, and when the head of the School of Agriculture and Food Sustainability first walked in, he knew it was \u201ca game changer\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cIt had a wow factor,\u201d Professor Sagadevan Mundree said. \u201cIt\u2019s state of the art, and the only one of its kind in the Southern Hemisphere.\u201d<\/p>\n The building houses research into sustainable food, fibre and fuel production in response to climate change, environmental degradation, and population growth.<\/p>\n It contains about 40 \u201cgrowing rooms\u201d, cabinets and glasshouses where climatic conditions of any environment can be recreated. One room might be like the sub-Saharan desert. Another might be like Finland; another, a tropical region.<\/p>\n Academics can book rooms for two or three-month trials, then check out when they have their results.<\/p>\n \u201cIt feels like a very luxurious hotel for plants,\u201d Mundree said. \u201cFor the university, I would say [it\u2019s had] a huge impact because it gives us a chance now to mimic microclimates.<\/p>\n \u201cThat gives us the edge of being able to do speed breeding, and one of the areas that is fast evolving is genome editing of crops.\u201d<\/p>\n Designed by Brisbane firm M3Architecture, the Plant Futures Facility has won a National Award for Educational Architecture 2026, bestowed by the Australian Institute of Architects.<\/p>\n Jury member Alice Hampson said the building was \u201castounding\u201d both for its technology and its aesthetic.<\/p>\n \u201cConceptually, it\u2019s like a walled garden [with] a pixelated brick facade, it reminds me of sedimentary rock samples,\u201d Hampson said.<\/p>\n \u201cThe patterning in the brickwork is from basically a cross-section through the Great Artesian Basin, the geological profile of Queensland,\u201d architect Michael Christensen said.<\/p>\n Brick was chosen as a response to the neighbouring Hartley Teakle Building, a well-loved 1969 brick edifice originally built for the Agriculture and Entomology departments.<\/p>\n Christensen said the new building\u2019s main challenge was the fact it could not have any windows, \u201cbecause that will change the amount of light, or the temperature.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a big brick box, right? So we were thinking about how can we make working in there a more pleasant experience.<\/p>\n \u201cIn these grow rooms, the researchers are playing with the environmental conditions for the plants. So we thought, well, why don\u2019t we do the same to the academics?\u201d<\/p>\n Related Article The building\u2019s central corridor features variable light and colour settings. There are also distorted mirrors adding visual interest, \u201clike at the Ekka\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cIt could have been boring and sterile,\u201d Hampson said. \u201cIf I was a kid and visited, I\u2019d be going, \u2018How can I make a career to work in this building?\u2019<\/p>\n Seven of the 34 National Architecture Awards were won by Queensland projects.<\/p>\n Two houses in the Mount Coot-tha foothills won residential awards.<\/p>\n A renovated 1920s home in Burleigh, Woodside Cottage, won the Eleanor Cullis-Hill Award for Houses (Alterations and Additions).<\/p>\n A spectacular city apartment block, 443 Queen St, won the award for Multiple Housing, while commercial office tower 205 North Quay won the Harry Seidler Award for Commercial Architecture.<\/p>\n City restaurant Golden Avenue<\/a> won an award for its interiors.<\/p>\n Get alerts on significant breaking news as happens. Sign up for our Breaking News Alert<\/a>.<\/p>\n Save<\/p>\n You have reached your maximum number of saved items.<\/p>\n Remove items from your saved list<\/a> to add more.<\/p>\n No gift articles left<\/p>\n You’ve used all of your gift articles. 3 more will become available on the 1st of every month.<\/p>\n Close![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/98ca728594307aafb663c56e7458d8c211d878f0.jpeg\")
The Plant Futures Facility at the University of Queensland supports research into biotechnology.Christopher Frederick Jones<\/p>\n![\"Laboratories](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/5ce07cb71f7cb6512e8d7ecda031007c84439e7c.jpeg\")
Laboratories can manipulate light, heat, humidity, CO2 and other environmental factors.Christopher Frederick Jones<\/p>\n![\"Corridors](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/29c43cc656c3076449e45ee7a981d4159c690903.jpeg\")
Corridors utilise adaptable coloured lighting and mirrors.Christopher Frederick Jones<\/p>\n![\"Birdwood](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/7d720ebfcdae332ccf03066b0a5afe9030668cfe8339fa21738181cd863c4ca6.jpeg\")
<\/a><\/p>\n![\"Nick](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/1793283017_736_a7ae93672c0cee40857f45ec0221ba0e906fe976.png\")
Nick Dent<\/a> is a Culture Reporter at Brisbane Times, covering arts, entertainment and things to do in the city.Connect via email<\/a>.From our partners<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"October 29, 2026 \u2014 10:00pm Save You have reached your maximum number of saved items. Remove items from…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":945239,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[449,458,459,64,63,460,134],"class_list":["post-945238","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\/945238","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=945238"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/945238\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/945239"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=945238"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=945238"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=945238"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}