Our approach to social housing design

Living in a home that meets your needs can be life changing. So it’s important that the design of social housing supports and improves the lives of people with a diverse range of needs.

A well-designed home can contribute to:

  • employment opportunities
  • community connections and friendships
  • health and wellbeing
  • better access to services
  • personal and community safety
  • reduced living costs.

Queensland has a long history of providing quality social housing that meets community needs.

Today, we continue to deliver contemporary social housing. We use a person-centred design approach to provide social housing that:

  • meets the needs of our diverse Queensland communities
  • enhances the surrounding neighbourhood
  • sets a good example about best practice architecture, urban design and planning.

Design Excellence Panel

Following an expression of interest process in late 2020, we have appointed a Design Excellence Panel.

This panel of 23 architecture firms helps us deliver quality social housing by:

  • providing general feasibility design services
  • giving professional advice
  • contributing to post-occupancy evaluations on projects.

See what our Design Excellence Panel members have to say about social housing design, and designing a home and community:

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Text: After an Expression of Interest process in late 2020, the Department of Communities, Housing and Digital Economy appointed a Design Excellence Panel of architects to help us deliver quality social housing.

Karen Ognibene, KO and Co Architecture: We firmly believe that good design should be for everyone.

Innovative social housing has the opportunity to provide so much more to tenants than just a roof over their head.

Terry Braddock, BVN: So, design innovation can actually make developments turn into reality.

In terms of social housing, they can improve quality of places of where you live and create communities which are strong.

Erhard Rathmayr, Refresh Design: We aim to use design as a tool to shape a better society by enhancing the human experience for all people within the urban content.

Josh Spillane, Archipelago: We realise the importance that housing plays in the way that cities are shaped and how we live together.

Shy Tay, Arkhefield: For us, actually having more choice, more voice and having more diverse product is quite critical to the future of providing housing for all.

Kim Baber, Baber Studio: Good design in social housing is important, particularly if we can improve aspects such as the dwelling’s relationship to the community and the way it interacts with the street and the neighbourhood.

Ryan Loveday, Fulton Trotter: We’re really pleased to be part of the Design Excellence Panel and the work of trying to improve the quality of social housing across Queensland.

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Text: After an Expression of Interest process in late 2020, the Department of Communities, Housing and Digital Economy appointed a Design Excellence Panel of architects to help us deliver quality social housing.

Steve Guthrie, Bark Architecture: It’s important to innovate and push design process boundaries.

And it’s about…because design is about people, and you combine people and the aspects of designing for place, you’re really kind of making community.

And that’s what these projects are all about - is really strong communities.

Paul Curran, Push Architecture: Communal spaces should foster neighbour relationships whilst providing safe areas for recreation and play.

Dr Kelly Greenop, University of Queensland: And I’m really interested in making sure that people of all cultures, abilities, health conditions, all have access to decent housing.

Tim Morgan, Cox Architecture: Design innovation in social housing is important. It is a specialised form of housing that should address the specific needs of the occupants.

Bruce Medek, BSPN Architecture: When designing housing, my core belief is that the house has to be something that is comfortable and comforting; that it provides the residents with a place where they can be part of the community, where they can relate to their family and the people around them.

Michael Rayner, Blight Rayner Architecture: So design innovation is essential to create living conditions which give people in need a sense of identity, of belonging, and of community that every person deserves.

Frank Ehrenberg, Marchese Partners (Brisbane): Meet design principles but kind of facilitate social interaction and creating real communities.

Show transcript

Text: After an Expression of Interest process in late 2020, the Department of Communities, Housing and Digital Economy appointed a Design Excellence Panel of architects to help us deliver quality social housing.

Dr Chris Landorf, University of Queensland: I’m particularly passionate about developing innovative housing solutions that respond to all sorts of geographic locations and climatic conditions throughout Queensland.

Kim Baber, Baber Studio: We’re interested in using technologies that enable the building to perform better in our climate, for them to be able to be comfortable all year round without the need for intensive energy consumption.

Gisela Jung, CA Architects: I think I love the connection to the landscape the most in every project and it’s always different.

Paul Curran, Push Architecture: We see sustainability in social and cultural terms as well as environmental. So that there is a genuine longevity in the ideas that underpin the housing we design.

Richard Kirk, Kirk Architects: We were really interested in trying to blur that distinction between what’s indoor and what’s outdoor.

Michael Rayner, Blight Rayner Architecture: I’m interested in designing homes and housing which have a personality that is unmistakably Queensland, through its climatic response, lifestyle character, materials and visible environmental components.

Gisela Jung, CA Architects: As architects, I think we have the ability to listen and to innovate, to use the knowledge that we have and take the time to improve, develop new ideas and create sustainable developments, including developments that work with the environment.