Arts Village Masterplan Greenlit for Brisbane’s Yeronga

The proposed masterplan for Australia’s first fully integrated arts village in Brisbane’s inner-west has been splashed with planning green. Brisbane City Council has given the go-ahead to the transformation of the old Taubman’s paint factory at Yeronga, about 8km south of the CBD. The redevelopment plans feature buildings ranging from four to eight storeys—including five residential buildings, paving the way for hundreds of new homes. Significantly, some of the 6800sq m of existing factory structures will be retained and adaptively reused, providing a foundation for the innovative mixed-use precinct. Earmarked for 3.43ha at 115 Hyde Road, the application for the zone change and preliminary approval for the first stage was lodged in August of 2023 and underwent a rigorous planning process. According to the planning documents, the project—bringing a rare dose of cultural urbanism to the River City—will “unlock a significant suburban renewal opportunity”. “The vision for the proposed development is for a vibrant mixed-use community, comprising artist studios, art gallery, artistic training, catering, food and drink outlets, event space, office space, performance space, green space and communal zones, as well as residential uses that support the creative arts.” Development director Paul Hey has deemed it “a ground-breaking concept for Brisbane”. “The potential of this precinct, the role it can play in Brisbane’s cultural life and the character it can add to residential development in the area, cannot be denied. “We believe The Paint Factory can deliver a creatively progressive residential model to be admired and emulated…[that] will sensitively assist with the housing crisis while also increasing the scope and ambitions for local creative industries, adding economically and culturally to the future of our city.” Suburban Futures director Ross Elliott, who also chairs Brisbane City Council’s Better Suburbs Initiative, said the approval was a significant milestone. “It’s one of the first instances, if not the first, where we’ve embraced the idea of turning former industrial land into uses that are going to meet contemporary community needs,” he said. ▲ A rendering of The Paint Factory Arts Village proposed for the former Taubman’s site in the city’s inner-west. “And it’s a great example of what suburban renewal is all about. “This is going to give a market signal to other precincts and other property owners that the council is serious about this.” The site—within the 12ha Hyde Road Industrial Precinct—was one of 14 underutilised holdings identified to transition away from historic industrial land uses to modern mixed-used residential developments as part of the council’s suburban renewal initiative. “No one needs a paint factory operating at Hyde Road, Yeronga, anymore,” Elliott said. “I’m told the thing had a blast radius of two or three kilometres when it was full of turpentine and acetone and other industrial solvents. So it could’ve gone boom if someone dropped a match or a durry in the wrong place.” He said the heritage retention and adaptive reuse aspects of the arts village project were reminiscent of the Brisbane Powerhouse—a 1920s power station at inner-city New Farm reborn as an arts centre. “Yes, I particularly like that aspect…the commitment to keep some of those old industrial structures, to remind people what its original use was, and to turn that into space that’s going to have an ongoing creative industries use. “We under-estimate the value and the importance of creative industries as one of the potential mixed uses. We normally sort of say, ‘well, it’s going to be 90 per cent accommodation and maybe 10 per cent ground-floor retail’. “But this one is very different and that’s great.” ▲ A rendering of the approved Paint Factory Arts Village at Yeronga. The first stage of The Paint Factory Arts Village will comprise food and drink outlets, art and event spaces, a theatre, escape room and carparking for visitors and staff. Housing, health services, markets, a garden centre and hardware store are slated to follow. Taubman’s established a paint factory on the site in 1952. It was acquired in 2005 by Akzo Nobel, the maker of Dulux paint, and subsequently decommissioned and closed a decade later. Since then, it has become a renowned creative hub and home to a collective of internationally recognised and celebrated artists who have inspired the vision to shape the site as an arts village. It was also a filming location for the adaptation of Brisbane writer Trent Dalton’s Boy Swallows Universe . Meanwhile, the council also has given the nod to the Buchan-designed Apollo Road Apartments— the first residential complex in Shayher Group’s redevelopment of the former Bulimba Barracks in the city’s inner-east. ▲ A rendering of the Buchan-designed Apollo Road Apartments complex approved for Shayher Group’s Bulimba Barracks redevelopment. Comprising two apartment buildings rising up to three storeys with 69 one, two and three bedroom units, it is the first of the project’s planned 800-plus homes. The low to medium-rise scheme is earmarked for a 6382sq m portion of the 20ha former naval base. It sits next to a sprawling, heritage-listed fabrication shed, which has been given the green light for adaptive reuse as a community hub that will put retail and hospitality amenities on residents’ doorsteps. Buchan principal Lynn Van Dievoort said the approval of Apollo Road Apartments marked a new era for the Bulimba Barracks site while also paying homage to its past. “The design draws on the site’s industrial heritage, with curved forms and brickwork referencing a former soap and candle factory dating back to the 1880s,” she said. The residential complex will sit on the footprint of former World War II warehouses.

Residential
Phil Bartsch
Wed 27 Aug 25

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ResidentialPhil BartschWed 27 Aug 25

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