Awards
Queensland and Brisbane in particular are at a maturing stage in their urban form. Maintaining the history and character of the region is important as is maximising land use when the available area for development is scarce.
One of the challenges of urban renewal projects are the regulatory specifications, designed for a time when Brisbane revolved around the car. If you consider parking provisions for Urban Renewal projects, road reserves, setback and number of car parks per person dictate much of the development. These regulatory specifications don’t take in to consideration the need for higher density and economic viability. THG’s role is to encourage a move towards performance based design that challenges the current regulatory frameworks to get better design outcomes.
The Logan City Council were looking for ways to encourage developers to be more environmentally conscious when they approached THG to develop a Life Cycle Cost Model for overland flow channels.
“We want to set the standard for the region” was the brief given to THG when creating the residential development to be known as ‘The Ridge Urban Village’.
Creating a high quality urban infill master planned community on a site located on the fringe of the Guragunba flood plain on Queensland’s Gold Coast was no mean feat for THG. After obtaining approval for the first stages of the 73ha site, THG’s next challenge was to negotiate with the Gold Coast City Council to allow a mixed use development comprising residential, tourist resort, small scale commercial and retail uses.
THG were commissioned to create a master planning concept for the Coomera CBD area incorporating New Urbanism design principles. Theories on pedestrian cities were put in to practice, augmenting a mix of uses including education, retail, health and residential accommodation. THG created a space that reduced reliance on cars, promoted healthier living by encouraging regular exercise and promoted cycling and walking as the primary mode of transport
