205 North Quay Leads the Way in Climate-Responsive Design

A new commercial tower in Brisbane is challenging the convention of traditionally closed workplaces, setting a new benchmark for climate-responsive design in Southeast Queensland. Designed to breathe, it embraces the region’s climate, enhances workplace wellbeing, and contributes to a vibrant public realm through thoughtful, generous design.

Designed by Hassell, REX, and Richards & Spence and developed by Cbus Property, 205 North Quay is shaped by its environment and channels the essence of the traditional Queenslander home – think plenty of shading, plants, verandahs, terraces, and outdoor spaces – into a workplace that prioritises health and social connection.

Unlike many commercial buildings, 205 North Quay welcomes the outdoors in, with landscaped outdoor terraces that ascend the 30-level tower and a shaded, open-air civic plaza at street level designed for employees and the wider community to share.

Cleverly designed to combat the harsh Queensland sun, a strategically positioned building core and a finely articulated façade provide welcome shade. Placed on its north side, the building’s core is centred to maximise views of the Brisbane River and South Bank’s cultural district. The core’s position provides essential shading from Brisbane’s severe northwest sun while freeing up ample space at the retail and lobby levels. Copper-coloured ellipses – that use less material than traditional shading systems – feature on the two longer façade elevations. They encourage plenty of natural light and clear views, all while reducing the sun’s heat. Moreover, advanced building services are designed to minimise energy use, water consumption, and waste throughout the building’s lifecycle.

One of the first towers in Brisbane to place health, wellbeing, and community at its core, the design’s vertical campus creates a strong sense of belonging through interlinked three-floor communities connected by stairs to larger ‘neighbourhoods’. A dedicated wellness floor with a 25-metre lap pool, a gym and exercise spaces, along with premium end-of-trip facilities, support work-life balance.

Flexible, adaptable, and functional spaces can be found throughout the building, ensuring it meets evolving workplace needs, while an outdoor rooftop terrace offers opportunities for both focused work and social gathering – something high on the wish lists of many employees and prospective workplace tenants.

“Our goal was to design a building that works with Brisbane’s subtropical climate,” said Hassell’s Principal, Liam Short.

“By using shading, natural ventilation, and layered outdoor spaces, we’ve reduced energy demand while creating a healthier, more comfortable workplace.”

“205 North Quay asserts its commercial value not by wilful form, but by shrink-wrapping a slender, highly efficient structure in an equally efficient, state-of-the-art enclosure tailored to Brisbane’s subtropical climate,” added Founding Principal of REX, Joshua Ramus.

“Both its core and shell are designed to intensify the building’s simplicity, office diversity, and ultra-transparency: the extraordinary sense of floating above the Brisbane River.”

More information: hassellstudio.com