This article is from the Australian Property Journal archive
INTERNATIONAL architecture practice Plus Architecture has lodged plan for a new purpose-built student accommodation (PBSA) development in Petrie, north of Brisbane in Moreton Bay, near the University of the Sunshine Coast’s newest campus.
Situated at 47 Old Dayboro Road, the 3,100 sqm site, with a total ground floor area of 2,913 sqm, is just one kilometre from the campus, which aims to host up to 10,000 students by 2035.
The facility will provide 203 beds over seven storeys and includes a panoramic rooftop pool, entertainment spaces, and modern amenities.
While the federal government has recently pledged to cap international students, with the goal in part to alleviate supply pressures on the housing market, PBSA remains a plank of increase housing supply. A Student Accommodation Council report released I April showed the current pipeline of new PBSA developments will not meet future needs, with the projected 7,770 new beds due to come online by 2026 not enough to alleviate demand in the private rental market.
The Petrie design aims to include an engaging street frontage, which will be home to local businesses.
Plus Architecture have drawn on the “warm brick vernacular” of the two level residential neighbourhood that surrounds the site, “employing a texturally and tonally sensitive response by integrating a brick base”. Rising up to the level of the treeline of the surrounding landscape, the facade then transitions to a material palette of greens, including green concrete, matte green facade panels and mullions alongside tinted glazing.
Plus Architecture said the design has been informed by Brisbane City Council’s “Buildings that Breathe” guidance, which outlines key considerations for designing subtropical architecture.
Interventions include designing a stepped building mass that erodes on the north and eastern aspects, enabling light, wind and solar to access and permeate into the site.
“Our vision celebrates the vibrant and creative essence of what it means to be a student. Imbued with youthfulness and dynamism the space has been designed to surpass traditional expectations and foster a profound sense of community and well-being,” said Plus Architecture Principal, Chrisney Formosa.
Plus Architecture’s growing portfolio of PBSA developments across the country includes sites in Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne.
