A bush studio in Queensland takes out Building Designers Association award

POMO’s “Bush Studio” has taken out the category for best Sustainable Commercial Building Design at the Queensland BDAQ (Building Designers Association QLD) awards held on Friday July 25 in Brisbane.

After winning in the Sunshine Coast region and now the State title for sustainable building design, the studio will go on to the national competition to be held later this year in Melbourne. Co-designers Stephen Burton (Creative Director, POMO) and Simon Scott (Principal of SSB Design Studio) said “It’s been a very rewarding process taking the design from concept to a tangible, serene work environment.”

The building is on the side of a valley in the Sunshine Coast hinterland and features a 6 metre drop at the front with a full deck viewing platform. The roof is designed to create a waterfall that cascades from the roof in front of the deck when it rains, returning the water to the natural landscape and leaving as little footprint on the surrounding old-growth forest as possible.

Pomo’s Bush Studio includes a raft of sustainable features, including:

• minimal use of hardwood structural timber, opting instead for manufactured timber beams sourced from plantation forestry
• full plywood interior, also sourced from plantation forestry
• no use of carpet on flooring (exposed manufactured board instead)
• no paint on internal surfaces
• all rainwater returns to the surrounding bush via a waterfall from the front the building onto rocks below
• exclusive use of LED lighting throughout reduces power consumption by over 80% compared to our previous working location
• heavily insulated ceiling, walls and verandah roof to reduce reliance on air-conditioning and heating
• northerly aspect with ceiling to floor glass frontage to use the sun to naturally heat the building in winter
• no earth moving was required on the site, all soil unearthed from hole drilling was used in landscaping around the building
• no major trees were removed from the site, instead the building was located in a corridor of old-growth bush trees using the trees as a feature
• the natural canopy of surrounding trees protects the building from direct sun in summer thus keeping the building temperature low
• all internal desks and tables are made from plantation forestry pine or plywood
• all glass and steel was sourced locally from the Sunshine Coast                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               pomo.com.au