ARCHITECTURAL INTELLIGENCE fringe event

Photo by Christopher Frederick Jones

On Saturday morning there will be two tour options - visiting either civic or residential & art sites. Steendijk Architecture’s Green House, an innovative reworking of an historic Queenslander, will form part of the latter.

GREEN HOUSE
Steendijk Architecture’s Green House is by name and by nature a finely resolved balancing act.  Longevity was front of mind; the building should endure for at least another century. There is a long-term strategy for the site, and in concert the spaces were designed to be flexible and adaptable, with materials and finishes chosen for their low-maintenance and robustness.

On a 200sqm site, this home consists of living spaces curtained by cascading perimeter planter boxes softening the composition.  On the ground floor the brass top kitchen folds out to an explosive outdoor room with a rear sunken yard beyond. Upstairs,  bedrooms and bathrooms reside with robust interior finishes dominated by grey ironbark surfaces and recycled hardwood framing.  Fabricated from steel plate, the main staircase’s mid-landing dynamically cantilevers towards the street with three sides in-filled with louvers to function as the lungs of the house.

While Queenslanders are appropriately designed for tropical climates, left unaltered they can be uncomfortable in the extremes of summer and winter. Steendijk Architecture’s modifications mean the building maintains a comfortable temperature year-round without active heating or cooling.  Respectful, but contemporary preservation has successfully secured the character of this historic home for another one hundred years.

BRIAN STEENDYK
For more than two decades, Brian Steendyk has been at the helm of architecture and design studio Steendijk, working on diverse challenges and applying his interdisciplinary skillset to product, exhibition/interior design as well as residential and commercial architecture.

 Formatively, Brian undertook a masters of architecture at the Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT) in the mid-1990s which explains the modernist tendencies found in his work. He speaks fondly of his time at Crown Hall with his two thesis advisors, Joseph Fujikawa and the “poet of structure” Myron Goldsmith. Both were disciple-collaborators of German émigré and renowned modernist Mies van der Rohe, IIT’s architecture director 1938 to 1958. These men were thoughtful and disciplined practitioner-educators whose valuable lessons Brian eagerly absorbed. Goldsmith, an architect and engineer, was the project architect of Mies’ Farnsworth House and also studied under Pier Luigi Nervi in Rome, instilled in Brian that through the understanding of engineering one can achieve the “art of architecture.”

EVENT INFO

ARCHITECTURAL INTELLIGENCE: Redefining AI

DATES 28-30 May 2026

LOCATION Meanjin / Brisbane on Yuggera & Turrbal Country. The Friday main seminar day will be at the Brisbane Powerhouse, 119 Lamington St, New Farm QLD

CPD 6 formal points available on the Friday