Designing with the Neighbourhood in Mind
Every project begins with a discussion with our clients as we seek to understand what they want. They describe the spaces they would like and the feeling that they are after. We discuss their plans for now and their future plans for the building too. Almost always at some point the conversation turns to the street and the local neighbourhood.
Clients will comment on how much they enjoy the park at the end of the block they walk through every morning. How much they enjoy chatting over the fence with their neighbours and how familiar they are with the sounds of the neighbourhood. Our commercial clients may comment on the established lunch spots their staff love or the sense of a precinct that has its own identity and energy but the sentiment remains the same. Whether the project is a home or a place of business, clients are rarely just describing a street. They are talking about why they chose the place.
Context isn't a constraint. It is a starting point
Often the temptation is to think about the site as a series of problems to overcome in pursuit of the end goal. Is it a narrow lot? Is the orientation awkward? But framing the design choices like that can be limiting.
Every site we work on is part of a broader neighbourhood. The history of the neighbourhood shows up through the fences and planting and the way current and previous owners have used their street and the surrounding areas. For us, the building forms part of that neighbourhood’s narrative. It is about just blending into the surrounds but it is about choosing elements that matter. It could be choosing a material palette that responds to the neighbourhood. It could be more deliberate choices such as orientating the home towards a nearby park or opening the front of the business to invite conversations from the community. When a building fights against its context, it can feel like the building is out of place or even be jarring.
Suburbs and neighbourhoods have a specific character
Working as architects for 25 years means we appreciate what has changed and what has stayed the same over that time. Brisbane has changed significantly is that time. Trends in design have come and gone. However, there are some constants that always need to be recognised and considered.
The benefits of passive design are always important. Managing the amount of sun a building receives (whether to achieve cooling or heating) as well as considering access to views and cooling breezes are all part of the process. Site location and orientation are factors that are considered at very beginning of the design process, to ensure that the building effectively responds to its unique site and context.
The relationship between indoors and outdoors is important too. Brisbane homes have always negotiated the threshold between interior and exterior using the verandah and the covered outdoor room as traditional options. We can live outside for most of the year and that shapes the design choices. Additionally, many of our neighbourhoods have parks and green spaces. The creek corridors, lookouts and reserves form part of the surrounds. Designing with these spaces in mind, can mean the difference between a building that sits apart from its neighbourhood and one that builds a relationship with the surrounding the green space.
The street is a public asset, even when you’re designing a private home or place of business
Something that is not often acknowledged is the responsibility a building has to its street and surrounding neighbourhood. Whilst the building may be a private dwelling or a commercial premises, it is also part of the narrative of the neighbourhood. People walk and drive past every day, experiencing the building regardless of whether they are invited in or not.
This doesn’t mean that every building needs to be open or transparent. Privacy is important, and for many commercial clients, so is security and brand control. However, we find that where the design balances these needs with a genuine generosity toward the street, we can achieve an outcome that exceeds expectations.
Some of the design choices include planting that contributes to the neighbourhood canopy, and a fence line or boundary treatment that doesn’t feel hostile. For commercial projects, this might mean a façade that is active and engaging at street level, even where the interior needs to remain private. Additionally, material choices matter for every project type. Materials that age well and add something to the block are valuable design choices whether the building is a family home, a boutique retail space, or a professional office.
The balance between privacy and neighbourhood is an important conversation to have with all clients, and one that often unlocks design possibilities they hadn’t previously considered.
What context-led design actually looks like in practice
In practice, designing with the neighbourhood in mind means considering the site as a whole well before any drawings are begun. This is often part of the masterplanning exercise. It means understanding the history and the narrative of the neighbourhood. It means understanding where the noise comes from and where the light falls in summer and winter.
As part of the collaboration with clients, it means understanding not just what they want inside their building, but also how they want it to feel to approach and arrive. For residential clients, that might be the sense of calm or warmth that greets them at the end of a working day. For commercial clients, it is the impression made on staff arriving each morning, on customers approaching for the first time, or on the broader community passing by. What does the building communicate before anyone has stepped inside? Does it feel like it belongs here, or like it has been dropped onto the site without introduction?
These are important questions for any project type, and they help to separate a building that could be anywhere from a building that can only be in this neighbourhood.
