QUT Peter Coaldrake Education Precinct

Brisbane, Meanjin, Queensland

The redemptive power of landscape can in some sense be expressed through the “wellness” experienced by users when surrounded by living landscape. The desire to improve the condition of users of the building was a significant driver in the incorporation of a landscape complete with substantial green elements within the building fabric.

A large landscaped atrium space was created connecting the new building to the existing library. It provided the opportunity to create a large vegetated public space within the building where users can find some repose and connect with nature inside the building envelope.

The Peter Coaldrake Education Precinct at QUT sets a global benchmark for the design of contemporary, sustainable educational environments. As a $94.4 million, six-level faculty building, it plays a vital role in connecting key campus elements — the education faculty, the existing library, and the main pedestrian spine that links the busway to the campus heart.
At the core of the design is an unwavering belief in the power of landscape to support wellness and enhance everyday experience. The integration of living landscape elements within the building fabric was driven by a desire to positively influence the health and wellbeing of all users.
Key Elements of the Design Framework:
1. Landscape as Wellness Infrastructure
A large, immersive atrium links the new faculty building to the existing library, forming a vegetated public space within the building envelope. This interior landscape offers opportunities for quiet reflection and connection to nature — a living counterpoint to the surrounding built form.
2. Vertical Forest Expression
The atrium forest floor cascades across multiple levels, creating a terrain of green. Vertical columns, wrapped in planting and inspired by epiphytic rainforest tree trunks, extend toward the overhead skylights, reinforcing the sense of immersion in nature.
3. Natural Light and Environmental Systems
Generous overhead skylights deliver sufficient daylight to support plant growth across five levels. Full-height glass curtain walls extend the visual landscape outward, while the strategic location of HVAC services above the planting beds creates a stable, favourable microclimate for thriving vegetation.
4. Biophilic Integration in Workspaces
Plantings continue throughout the upper storey open-plan offices, amplifying biophilic effects and enriching the daily working environment. These elements are not decorative but embedded in the building’s overall health-driven strategy.
5. Cultural and Ecological Layering
To the south, the interior rainforest transitions into an open sclerophyll forest planted with endemic species and cultivars. Developed in consultation with representatives from the Oodgeroo Unit, the landscape incorporates a yarning circle and food gardens, offering space for ceremony, cultural connection, and quiet contemplation. The inclusion of bush tucker species supports education and celebrates Indigenous knowledge.
2020 AIA QLD Jennifer Taylor Award for Educational Architecture

2020 AIA QLD Award for Interior Architecture

2020 AIA QLD Award for Sustainable Architecture

2020 AIA Brisbane Regional John Dalton Award for Building of the Year

2020 AIA Brisbane Regional Commendation (Educational Architecture)

2020 AIA Brisbane Regional Commendation (Interior Architecture)

2020 AILA (Australian Institute of Landscape Architects) QLD Landscape Architecture Award for Health and Education Landscape

2019 A4LE Queensland Chapter Awards, Overall Award Winner

2019 A4LE Queensland Chapter Awards, New Constructions / New Individual Facility over AU $8 Million