Sunshine Coast Design Strategy

Council is committed to putting in place a framework that strengthens the Sunshine Coast 'look and feel' and creating great places for residents and visitors. The Sunshine Coast Design Strategy is a region-making project under Sunshine Coast Council's corporate goal for 'a healthy, smart, creative' culture.

Sunshine Coast Design Strategy Part A - Sunshine Coast Design

Sunshine Coast Design is the first installment of the Sunshine Coast Design Strategy. It includes a suite of tools to help design homes, buildings, parks, public spaces, streets and neighbourhoods. Sunshine Coast Design is for everyone undertaking a design process as well as those influencing or funding design on the Sunshine Coast. Resources include a hardcover design book, videos and website.

The key objectives of Sunshine Coast Design is to:

• inspire and encourage design that protects and enhances all that the community loves about the Sunshine Coast;
• promote a place-based approach to design so buildings, streets and spaces reflect the values and characteristics of the Sunshine Coast, rather than just 'anywhere';
• elevate the value of good design so that people understand how good design can benefit individuals, the community and the region as a whole; and
• educate on how to achieve good-quality design to enhance the liveability of the Sunshine Coast.

Throughout 2018 and 2019, council developed Sunshine Coast Design using extensive community and stakeholder engagement and an open collaborative process. Information gathered was used to identify what the community values most about the region which led to the development of ten design principles to help enhance and protect these values.

The values

The following four characteristics are what the community values most about the Sunshine Coast. These values are at the heart of what makes the Sunshine Coast special.

1. We love our climate
2. We live within and cherish our landscape
3. We treasure our ocean, beaches and waterways
4. We are a community of communities

Design principles

The following 10 design principles are based on what our community values about the Sunshine Coast. The principles do not push a certain architectural or landscape style. They aim to express the four values and provide ideas for working with them.

The design principles are:

1. Work with the local climate
2. Create places that respect and incorporate landscape
3. Bring our cultures, arts and heritage to life
4. Capture and frame views and create vistas
5. Strengthen and extend a network of green corridors
6. Be inspired by the natural and built environment
7. Create shady streets that put people first
8. Create welcoming places that can be enjoyed by everyone
9. Design places to be resilient and ready for change
10. Create and add value

A range of example projects from across the Sunshine Coast have been selected to demonstrate the 10 Design Principles. These projects highlight the applicability of the principles across different development scales and the variety of design and built outcomes possible. Additional example projects will be added over time.

Visit Sunshine Coast Design to learn more about the values and principles, find out how to get a copy of the Sunshine Coast Design Book, view the example projects, find out about news and events or provide your feedback.

Environment and Liveability Strategy

Sunshine Coast Design supports the action of council's Environment and Liveability Strategy. View the strategy to see other ways that council and our community are working together to deliver a healthy environment and liveable Sunshine Coast.

Where to from here

More tools to support the Sunshine Coast Design Strategy will be developed in the future.

Contacts

For more information, email sunshinecoastdesignstrategy@sunshinecoast.qld.gov.au.