Brisbane City Council will prepare a new set of design principles to improve home design and guide the protection of Queenslanders and character homes across the suburbs.
City Planning Chair Matthew Bourke said community feedback received during the recent Character Design Forum would be instrumental in shaping the new principles that would ensure the preservation of Brisbane’s character homes for the future.
“Residents take Brisbane’s character seriously, which is why we are committed to protecting the look and feel of our suburbs while building the infrastructure our growing city needs,” Cr Bourke said.
“The recent Character Design Forum, which was an outcome of Brisbane’s Future Blueprint, will guide the development of the design principles that will shape how we protect tin and timber as well as other traditional designs.
“Close to 800 submissions were received during the Character Design Forum with feedback focused on retaining Queenslanders, new builds reflecting the character of the area and keeping traditional building designs, including fencing.”
Cr Bourke said many residents expressed that it was imperative extensions, renovations or adaptions to character homes did not lead to a loss of original design.
“The community made it clear they want see homes and streets retain their charm, even as times change,” he said.
“This set of new design principles will also create more certainty around character design expectations in the property industry.
“We want to keep Brisbane looking like Brisbane and part of that is about preserving our traditional homes.”
Cr Bourke said work would now begin on translating the design principles into a design guide.
“We now have a clear understanding of what residents think about Brisbane’s character and they want to protect it,” he said.
“I look forward to now using this information to develop a design guide and subsequently prepare amendments to adopt the principles into the Brisbane City Plan 2014.”
Council will also soon open public consultation on the draft New World City design guide – Subtropical homes for a Brisbane lifestyle, which provides advice and support to encourage quality design of low-to-medium density residential development such as townhouses and apartments up to five storeys
The draft design guide will be open for public consultation from August 5 to September 13.
