The Queensland Government is now in a caretaker period until after the state election. Minimal updates will be made to this site until after the election results are declared.

© Middle House by Nobel Carter Architects, Photo by Andrew Carter

Distinctly Queensland Design Series

The Distinctly Queensland Design Series is a project that is all about supporting the delivery of more homes and housing choice for Queenslanders.

The Distinctly Queensland Design Series is one of the key initiatives of the Homes for Queenslanders Plan, which aims to support the delivery of more homes, faster.

The objective of the Design Series is to provide best practice, contemporary siting and design standards for residential development that promote the efficient use of well-located land while protecting our distinctly Queensland lifestyle.

This will be achieved through new codes that are consistent across Queensland and are clear, easy to understand, and simple to use.

The Design Series is intended to:

  • simplify assessment processes and provide time and cost savings
  • provide certainty to industry to invest in and build gentle density
  • improve alignment between the planning and building frameworks
  • result in improved design outcomes that align with community expectations for various gentle density product within low to medium density neighbourhoods
  • improve housing supply, diversity and affordability within established and new areas.

The principles of the Design Series

The delivery of good design is important to positively contribute to the creation of liveable places. With rapid growth across many of the State’s cities, it is important to ensure that the quality of what is being delivered creates an urban environment that is well made, improves the quality of life for all, and is distinctly Queensland.

Seven key design principles will be championed through the Design Series as best practice principles for housing design in Queensland to deliver high quality housing that is responsive to Queensland’s context. These include:

  1. Orientation – Orientate buildings to respond to their climate.
  2. Passive Design – Reduce reliance on artificial light and air-conditioning through provision of shading devices, maximisation of openings, and operable/flexible elements allowing for cross-ventilation.
  3. Good neighbours – Share access to daylight and balance the scale of built form with natural landscaped. Maximise provisions of amenity and privacy.
  4. Outdoor living – Create strong connections to the outdoors and increase amenity. Cool, shady places and access to green.
  5. Street Address/Character – Contribute to the street character and connect to the surrounding neigbourhood. Responsive to unique context and activation of street to strengthen the sense of safety and community.
  6. Adaptable – Create housing that can easily adapt to changing lifestyles and households needs. Comfortable and flexible housing that can support living, working, recreation and community.
  7. Resilient – Ensure housing does not increase the impacts on the environment and landscape. Housing should not significantly increase the impact to stormwater flow, urban heat island effect and natural system. Climate responsive design that reduces disaster recovery time and keeps people safe and in place.

Secondary dwellings

As the first stage of the Distinctly Queensland Design Series, the Queensland Government is proposing fit-for-purpose siting and design provisions for secondary dwellings.

The Queensland Government is consulting on the proposed siting and design provisions for secondary dwellings. Find out more and have your say. Submissions close on 12 November 2024.

For information on how tiny homes are regulated in Queensland, please refer to tiny homes.

Last updated: 02 Oct 2024