A flagship project by Fender Katsalidis has received a special honour at the 2022 Brisbane Regional Architecture Awards.

Announced by the Australian Institute of Architects, the prize was dedicated to Fender Katsalidis’ Midtown Centre development located in the heart of the Brisbane CBD.

Receiving the Lord Mayor’s Brisbane Buildings that Breathe Architecture Award, the Midtown Centre is an environmentally sustainable 26-storey building that merges two former government office buildings. It also demonstrates a strong alignment with Brisbane City Council’s New Worl City Design Guide – Buildings that Breathe.

The bold and unconventional design aims to deliver an ecologically sustainable commercial outcome through the adaptive reuse of two existing commercial buildings. It represents an Australian first in the $100 billion built environment sector.

“As Architects, we are gifted with both the opportunity and responsibility to create a legacy within our cities,” says Fender Katsalidis principal Megan Rodgers.

“Midtown Centre is a wonderful example of how old building stock can be adapted and re-used to successfully create a new legacy.

“Midtown Centre presented our team with a unique opportunity to provide campus-style commercial building accommodation within the Brisbane CBD.

“Through the injection of a bridging floor plate and external green seam, the two ends of life commercial buildings have been amalgamated across adjacent cross-block sites.”

Brisbane’s Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner commended Fender Katsalidis on fulfilling the principles of Brisbane City Council’s Buildings that Breathe as well as drastically reducing the total energy spent on a new building by repurposing the existing towers.

The sustainable vision behind Midtown Centre enabled Fender Katsalidis to save 11,00 tonnes of carbon emissions – the equivalent of running the building fully occupied, carbon-neutral for four years.

Midtown Centre demonstrates the value of strategically presenting ecologically sustainable  commercial outcomes through the adaptive reuse of existing commercial buildings. 

Established to recognise high standards of design and construction that celebrate Brisbane’s subtropical lifestyle and stimulate economic activity through desirable and lush urban design, the Lord Mayor’s Brisbane Buildings that Breathe Architecture Award stems from a  partnership between the AIA and Brisbane City Council. 

The inaugural Lord Mayor’s Brisbane Buildings that Breathe Architecture Prize was awarded in 2020 to Lucent, by Plazibat Architects. 

The prize recognises outstanding subtropical building design in Brisbane and all-around excellence in sustainable construction. 

Photography supplied by Fender Katsalidis.

Fender Katsalidis is a multi-disciplinary international design firm with offices in Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane.

The practice’s work influences built environment thinking across the globe with projects spanning multi-residential, cultural, commercial, aged care and hotel typologies. Delivering holistic solutions in architecture, masterplanning, urban design and interiors, all Fender Katsalidis projects imbue the practice’s core philosophy; innovation through collaboration.

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