Noosa Design Principles

Nicola Wilson9:16

Thanks for another great report, and as Mayor Wilkie said, good to see progress being made in the first quarter. Just scrolling through the photos as I always do, it's good to see things like footpaths and the missing links at the landfill, which are kind of less suspected but still very, very useful, but really good to see, especially when we're going to be talking about design principles today. The shower renewal at Castaways is just a beautiful piece of work there. The timber deck at The J, the timber shade shelter at the Tewantin ceremony, the look out at the tharabirds, so some really lovely timber works that we've had in this last quarter. So, you know, lots of practical things that we need to do like floors and toilet blocks and all those things which are really nice to see that there's a.

This report presents to Council the updated Noosa Design Principles 2026. Articulating and preserving what makes Noosa special has its foundations in the 1986 Noosa design manual and subsequent Noosa Design Principles published in 2015. Through further research, review and stakeholder consultation, this journey has continued evolve, culminating in a comprehensive and contemporary review of the Noosa Design Principles in 2026. The refreshed principles honour Noosa's design legacy while responding to contemporary challenges and opportunities. Provided clear and enduring framework. And operate as a guide to future development, ensuring the qualities that define Noosa's distinctive character, identity and sense of place are retained and strengthened over time. Noosa Design Principles support Council officers and design and development professionals involved in shaping both the public and private realm. The document comprises eight guiding principles supported by sub-principles that articulate Noosa's distinctive design character and Noosa look and feel. The principles provide a clear and consistent design language supported by carefully selected case studies and imagery that showcase design excellence and reflect the unique character and landscape. And built form of Noosa Shire. The eight principles are: preserve and enhance our community legacy, shapes the future, let nature shape design, nature leads, built form follows, maintain a village atmosphere distinct villages within nature's limits, prioritise vegetated streetscapes, streamline corridors to mask built form, ensure built form sits lightly in nature, embraced, minimal impact, low rise, design for climate responsiveness, sustainable, resilient, future ready, enable healthy movement and connection, streets for walking and cycling, reinforce spirit of place, community, and identity, design honours culture and community. The Noosa Design Principles are not statutory requirements, nor are they intended to duplicate Noosa Plan 2020 or replace other Council guidelines. Instead, they serve as an informative and complementary resource to help Council staff, developers, and designers understand the important design elements that contribute to the character of Noosa. The updated Noosa Design Principles have been informed by consultation with local and national architecture and landscape design firms, relevant industry bodies, the Kabi Kabi Peoples Aboriginal Corporation, Councillors and Council staff, Council officers. Targeted engagement was also undertaken with key local designers to ensure the principles articulate and communicate Noosa's distinctive character and design values. The Noosa Design Principles provide a clear contemporary and place-based design framework that articulates the qualities that make Noosa unique. The document is recommended for adoption and launched by Council as the primary reference for promoting design excellence and guiding development and built form that reinforces Noosa's distinctive identity and character and I'd just like to note that there are a few minor changes to be made to the document that was provided as attachment, namely one of the photos we just needed a higher resolution image so that'll be inserted and a few minor word changes to come with the question.

Brian Stockwell184:18

So it was 40 years ago that the Council first adopted the design manual in response to what at that stage was huge development pressure and a determination that the community didn't want Noosa to turn out like the Gold Coast. That's really what underpins our decades of focus on what's currently communicated in contemporary terms in this version of our design guidelines. It didn't begin in the it grew out of a remarkable collaboration between forward-thinking Councillors like Councillor Peter Bycroft, community advocates and a generation of innovative architects who understood that in Noosa our natural environment should shape our buildings rather than our buildings dominating the environment and that's the key to Noosa design. Architects like Gabriel Poole, John Mainwaring, Neil Harris and Maurice Hurst, Lindsay and Clare all helped establish what became known as the Sunshine Coast school of architecture. It was revolutionary thinking at the time. In 1998 Gabriel Poole described a good architect as someone who is sensitive to the environment, to the climate, to the client's needs, to proportion, to space and colour. And that's what we see engendered in these set of design guidelines. He believed architectures invite the of natural surroundings into our homes and our buildings, harnessing natural ventilation, sunlight and shade, rather than relying on mechanical systems. John Mainwaring, I should mention that this information has come out of our Council is our Council's heritage library where all these Fellows and women have oral histories on the subject. John Mainwaring described how the simple, open, flexible structures of coastal holiday living evolved into an entirely new style of architecture. And as Tim Ditchfield reminds, the fundamental principle hasn't changed. Buildings should be designed for the particular site, breathe naturally and respond to the sun without unnecessary energy consumption. So that's where we came from. And what we're trying to evolve. It wasn't a group of architects who were looking at a particular style of roof or material. It was a philosophy of designing with nature, with the climate and for the people. Philosophy that helped shape the 1986 design guidelines and the distinctive village character we continue to value today. But 40 years on, the challenge has evolved. We faced increasing development pressure, a changing climate, great demand, for and resilient buildings, and need to better recognise the cultural values and enduring connection of country, of the Kabi Kabi people in our public places. These updated design principles respond to these challenges, remaining faithful to our original vision. The eight principles reinforce the importance of the community legacy, village atmosphere, vegetative treescapes and buildings that sit lightly on the landscape. Importantly, they do extend beyond our public spaces and into the private realm. Where individual design decisions collectively shape character of our communities. They also recognise that the character of our hinterland villages should not be identical to those on the Coast or the riverine areas. Really important for the community to understand they're not statutory controls, they are shared design language to guide better decisions by public space designers, architects, developers, landowners and Council itself. And perhaps the most important message is that good design is not about copying the architecture of the past, it's about carrying forward the thinking that made the architecture exceptional in the 80s. The original architects, some of whom were around in the 80s to help guide the first one, helped us guide these. And Councillors and the Councillors, like I mentioned Councillors, Peter bycroft and Michael gloucester in the previous Council who championed the concepts and the design guidelines were innovators and they weren't imitators we should encourage that same creativity today providing respect provided it respects our landscape our climate and our communities so I congratulate all those involved including local design professionals our staff Kabi Kabi and have contributed to what is a really great publication the 1986 manual helped protect the Noosa we've inherited the 2026 principles can help shape the Noosa we need for future generations.

Amelia Lorentson189:05

A question to staff say on you mentioned in the report also notes that the principles in the Noosa Design Principles are non-statutory and not intended to duplicate the Noosa Planning Scheme. My question if you've got a proposed development and it doesn't align with the print these principles but it complies with the Noosa Plan what practical influence will this document have and how will officers or do officers use the design principles Noosa Design Principles during a say pre-lodgement discussions or design reviews?

So can I add to that? Often we, you know, we talk about, you know, Noosa design or, you know, that the building needs more articulation or, you know, needs to represent Noosa design values. And people are saying, what does that actually mean? You know, this document helps interpret some of those things and this is what it actually means. Here's some examples, here's some very specific guidance. If you want to understand what that means, this is sort of what it looks like. Ultimately, the Noosa Plan is the decision making it complies with the Noosa Plan, then it complies and it would move through. We would hope that there's alignment between the objectives of Noosa Plan and the performance criteria of Noosa Plan and how these design principles are articulated. Um you a there is that alignment but sure there could be that specific example where it complies with the provision of the Noosa Planning Scheme and for some reason doesn't quite hit the Noosa Design Principles it would still be appropriate because it complies with the town plan which is the leading document.

Amelia Lorentson191:33

And I know just our discussions over the last six years when we're considering development applications with conditional reference our Noosa design principle so and speaking with developers once the application is live I think again it's something that us Councillors make reference to in terms of respecting the values and that's what I see the design principles it's more protection of character and values rather than a prescriptive you know design elements that we're trying to promote thank you any more questions sorry one last question um in terms you mentioned that uh during pre-lodgement you referenced the Noosa Design Principles I'm wondering whether um Council's considering maybe even doing like a summary version and handing it to real estate agents um residents who are looking at building renovating developing um something with a QR code is that something that um that you're considering.

Certainly can do yeah um the design principles also has a checklist at the back which is a one.

Frank Wilkie192:57

Fantastic just a quick comment not duplicating what's been said but the Noosa Shire Council design manual principles enshrined from 40 years ago about embracing the outdoors that Councillor Stockwell alluded to led to outdoor dining and Noosa was one of the first places in Queensland to embrace outdoor dining so we have this body of work to thank you for that.