Lat27 is an award winning multidisciplinary design studio.
Lat27 is a partnership of respected industry leaders with extensive local and international experience and involvement with award winning projects. We have shared many years of successful practice together and Lat27 harnesses our collective skills, passion and vision.
Creativity is at the heart of our practice. Our design culture is drawn from a shared appreciation that the success of a place – regardless of scale or function – is fundamentally determined by responsiveness to environment and context.
Our solutions are grounded in the realities of place, time and people and the practical application of creative thought. Our goal and our passion is to contribute meaningfully to the creation of sustainable urban environments.
Design is more than just aesthetic quality. It defines a rigorous process
of conceptualisation, analysis, ideas generation, testing, refinement and realisation. Our approach to all projects, regardless of scale or strategic influence, is underpinned by the creativity and rigor of the design process.
We design inspirational environments of enduring quality and health. We believe that delivering successful projects which contribute meaningfully to sustainable urbanism and stewardship of essential natural environments is as much about the planning and design process as it is about the end solutions.
Our Values are that:
We commit to delivering high quality, professional work.
We respect each other and are clear in our communication.
We collaborate as a team to build a positive, happy and engaged studio.
We show creative initiative and share ideas.
480 Queen St
Buildings that breathe engage with the city and celebrate the setting in which they sit. Hobbs Park echoes Lat27’s ethos of providing high quality contextual public spaces by applying ‘creativity at all scales’. This new public park sits over the former gardens of Adelaide House, Queensland’s first Government House. Established by Dr William Hobbs, the gardens once extended to the Brisbane the river through scenes of forested edges, river glimpses and the Petrie Bight rock face beyond.
Lat27 has created a contemporary adaptation of Hobbs garden with qualities of the adjacent cliff face. Recovering the elevated vantage point and an iconic perspective over the Brisbane River was a strategic aspiration as was ensuring the space engaged visually with the streetscape below. Vegetation and occupiable edges emerge and cascades throughout the multiple podium terraces in an engaging dialogue with its city. The project was a true collaborative outcome with BVN (architect) Aurecon (structural engineers) and GROCON constructions (The Builder).
Mt Alvernia College
The design approach for the re-imagining of this Franciscan College was seeded in a vision to create a communal space that encourages a community to grow and learn amongst three gardens: a productive garden; a garden for gathering; and a garden for recreation.
Lat27 was engaged to develop these garden spaces. The first of these gardens, the productive garden ‘La Foresta’, was completed in January 2015 and forms the public face of Mount Alvernia College, where the learning and social spaces merge.
The early design process commenced with a series of conversations with the college. A clear understanding and commitment to the graft of three garden functions was collectively established. From this point on, the project was all about possibilities.
We would like to thank the team at m3architecture and the Mount Alvernia College leadership group for their collaborative efforts, while also acknowledging that the continued and future success of the project is greatly attributed to the students and gardeners who tend to it.; These projects need champions!
Brisbane Ferry Terminals
Collaborating with Aurecon and Cox Architecture, Lat27 re-designed eight CityCat and ferry terminals for Brisbane City Council.
Our focus was the design of the public realm, carefully connecting and integrating terminal infrastructure with the unique landside setting and urban context of each terminal. The design addressed flood mitigation requirements, improved equitable access, embedded sustainability initiatives and improved connectivity and awareness of other public transport opportunities within the broader network.
The project drew on our skills in urban design and landscape architecture and was a compelling opportunity to positively influence how we engage with the river. It was awarded the 2016 AILA Queensland Excellence Award in Civic Landscape and a commendation for Delivered Small Scale at the 2016 Australian Urban Design Awards.
Parklands Project
The new community at Parklands is the Gold Coast’s largest ever urban renewal project and delivers a lifestyle oriented, transit facilitated space for living, working and learning. The Parklands project provides seven hectares of open space including a large main park, with 1.3 hectares of new streetscapes and 4 hectares of private residential gardens all designed by Lat27. The development features more than 1,252 dwellings with a mix of apartments, townhouses and a retail precinct.
Lat27’s design strategy for the entire site is inspired by the regional landscape’s evolution since Mount Warning erupted 23 million years ago. A carefully cultivated palette of neutral, earthy tones and materials provides a deliberate counterpoint and natural setting to the vivid colours of the architecture. It is a celebration of the local environment incorporating new lakes, water features and waterways set up for both passive recreation and larger community events.
The centrepiece of the development is known as the Village Heart. Consisting of a sculptural waterfall called The Disc which is inspired by Natural Bridge in the nearby Gold Coast Hinterland, floating dna arbour structure, reflective two tier lake and terraces with space for events and markets the space is the spiritual and physical heart of Parklands.
The Link
AMP Capital approached Lat27 in 2014 to develop a public realm masterplan for the Coronation Drive Office Park (CDOP) precinct. The key driver for this work was a recognition that the office park was dating badly and needed significant investment in order to retain existing and attract new tenants in an increasingly competitive commercial office space market within Brisbane.
This project is an important first step towards re-positioning the Coronation Drive Office Park as a dynamic, place-driven destination of choice for locals and tenants alike. The Link converts an underutilised cross site connection to the river into a lively series of integrated places with improved, 24/7 amenity.
The Link was designed as a series of connected spaces with a unique mix of uses within a constrained space. It delivers high levels of functionality improving cyclist and pedestrian linkages, whilst also creating unprecedented amenity for the CDOP tenants and the wider community.
Key elements that define the Link include; a generous shared path connection, a coffee kiosk, public restroom facilities, shelters, table settings, informal seating opportunities, integrated power outlets, Wi-Fi, decorative catenary lighting, subtropical planting and a funky table tennis table, all set within a lush canopy of existing mature fig and jacaranda trees. The Link is an exciting flexible public space filled with activation and meeting opportunities and it is also a new benchmark for prescient recreational spaces within privately owned publicly accessible areas.
Good urban and landscape design should respond to the increasing demands of densification, this project exemplifies how old unloved spaces can be upcycled to make great spaces for both private and community use.
