ABB211 Architecture Design 3

Unit Outline: Semester 1 2025, Gardens Point, Internal

Overview

This architecture studio explores contemporary residential architecture in inner-city Brisbane against the backdrop of a digital world. You will develop architectural form in response to the urban fabric – of the site, street, suburb, and city – while satisfying the requirements of dwelling and living. This studio will introduce the singular concepts and skills required of an architecture-specific studio—while extending the spatial design concepts learned in ABB101 and ABB102 with new urban space- and form-generating concepts of architectural objecthood and language surveyed in global architectural praxis. Through the two projects, a house and small townhouse development, you will create new architectural and urban concepts, a site intervention (site plan or masterplan),  building envelope (three-dimensional form), architectural plans, expressive materiality and technologies, and a clear and compelling presentation.

Learning Outcomes

On successful completion of this unit you will be able to:

1. Formulate a guiding architectural and urban design concept that informs your entire residential proposal.
2. Propose a site intervention, evident in the site plan, that establishes a strong foundation for your architectural design.
3. Develop a building envelope (3D building form) that mediates between the building and its urban context.
4. Design an architectural plan and spatial language that meet functional needs and convey a clear aesthetic and geometric intent.
5. Investigate and apply appropriate structural, material, lighting, acoustic, sustainable, and digital strategies to enhance the technical and visual quality of your project.
6. Present your work effectively, using manual and digital drawings, models, images, film, or other media to communicate your ideas.

Content

Learning Approaches

Learning in this unit will occur through a combination of project-based exercises, lectures, and design studio activities. The design studio will provide an interactive environment where you can work individually and collaboratively on design tasks. Key aspects of the studio will include:

• engaging with abstract architectural and urban thought
• physical and/or digital model making and drawing to develop and experiment and propose formal (form-generating aesthetic-geometric) design ideas.
• group critiques and discussions to facilitate peer learning and refinement of design concepts.
• Engagement with the street, suburb, and city  to generate an architectural vision.
• Engagement with and survey of contemporary and iconic global architectural praxis.

Feedback on Learning and Assessment

You will receive formative feedback during studio sessions through:

• in-class desk critiques from tutors
• virtual consults from tutors only for studios falling on public holidays
• group critiques where peers and tutors provide feedback on work-in-progress
• feedback on development through Canvas

Assessment

Overview

You will engage with two project-based assessment tasks that involve the design of a house and small townhouse development

Unit Grading Scheme

7- point scale

Assessment Tasks

Assessment: The Virtual House

In Project One, you will design a small, contemporary house within a dense urban environment for a client involved in digital artistry and virtual curation. The “Virtual House” should be envisioned as a portal bridging tangible urban spaces and emerging digital realms. Proposals should thoughtfully respond to the aesthetics of the local urban context—its site, street, and surrounding environment—while acknowledging the influence of digital technologies and screen-based media. This project challenges you to create a dwelling that seamlessly integrates functional living requirements with conceptual connections to virtual worlds.

This assignment is eligible for the 48-hour late submission period and assignment extensions.

Assessment: The Virtual Townhouse Development

In Project 2, you will extend your architectural and urban proposal from Project 1 into a speculative townhouse development designed for a co-living community engaged with both physical environments and virtual domains. You will expand your initial site plan from one block to a two- or three-block masterplan.

In this project, your task is to show how urban aesthetics interact with digital and screen-based media, and to reimagine communal living where physical and virtual experiences overlap. You will consider how emerging digital technologies and their associated energy demands shape your architectural decisions, influencing everything from spatial organisation and materials to sustainability strategies.

This assignment is eligible for the 48-hour late submission period and assignment extensions.

Academic Integrity

Academic integrity is a commitment to undertaking academic work and assessment in a manner that is ethical, fair, honest, respectful and accountable.

The Academic Integrity Policy sets out the range of conduct that can be a failure to maintain the standards of academic integrity. This includes, cheating in exams, plagiarism, self-plagiarism, collusion and contract cheating. It also includes providing fraudulent or altered documentation in support of an academic concession application, for example an assignment extension or a deferred exam.

You are encouraged to make use of QUT’s learning support services, resources and tools to assure the academic integrity of your assessment. This includes the use of text matching software that may be available to assist with self-assessing your academic integrity as part of the assessment submission process.

Breaching QUT’s Academic Integrity Policy or engaging in conduct that may defeat or compromise the purpose of assessment can lead to a finding of student misconduct (Code of Conduct – Student) and result in the imposition of penalties under the Management of Student Misconduct Policy, ranging from a grade reduction to exclusion from QUT.

Resources

Resource Materials

Other

Drawing, model-making and presenting materials, equipment  and software as necessary to complete and present your project work.

Risk Assessment Statement

All commencing Faculty of Engineering students are required to complete the Mandatory Safety Induction

There are no extraordinary risks associated with the classroom/lecture activities in this unit.

Risk assessment may be undertaken for activities during semester where required

Students will use the J Block workshop and will need to complete the required localised inductions to access this space.

Course Learning Outcomes

AB05 Bachelor of Architectural Design

1. Apply theoretical, practical and cultural knowledge and skills in architecture.
   Relates to: The Virtual House, The Virtual Townhouse Development
2. Design and critically evaluate sustainable and creative architectural solutions to social, economic, technological and environmental challenges.
   Relates to: The Virtual House, The Virtual Townhouse Development
3. Communicate architectural knowledge, ideas and creative solutions in diverse modes, for a range of contexts and diverse audiences.
   Relates to: The Virtual House, The Virtual Townhouse Development
4. Plan, develop and complete architectural research and projects.
   Relates to: The Virtual House, The Virtual Townhouse Development