ARCHITECTS TURN TO BRICK FOR DURABILITY, DESIGN FLEXIBILITY & CLIMATE PERFORMANCE
Three Australian residential projects highlight how brick is being used in contemporary home design to support comfort, resilience and long-term performance.
1 min
Brick continues to play a significant role in contemporary Australian residential architecture, with a series of recently highlighted projects demonstrating how the traditional building material is being adapted to meet modern design expectations and environmental demands.
The case studies focus on three homes in NSW, Queensland and Victoria, where brick has been used to balance aesthetic considerations with practical performance benefits such as durability, thermal efficiency and reduced maintenance requirements.
At a suburban residence on Badgery Avenue, pale-toned brickwork has been used to reinterpret established streetscapes through a more contemporary architectural approach, with uniform masonry emphasising sculptural curves and clean structural lines.
In regional Queensland, a rural property known as Springdale demonstrates brick’s ability to withstand challenging environmental conditions.
The use of textured brickwork helps the home blend with its natural surroundings while providing strength against heat, wind and long-term weather exposure.
“Australian homes ask a lot of their materials, and brick has always been one of the few that can deliver beauty and performance in equal measure,” says Brickworks spokesperson, Brett Ward.
“These homes show just how versatile brick can be — whether it’s creating a striking façade, providing year-round comfort, or offering the kind of durability that stands up to the harshest conditions.
“Brick gives homeowners confidence. It’s a material that looks incredible on day one and continues to perform for generations.”
Thermal performance is also highlighted in a coastal home at Point Leo on Victoria’s Mornington Peninsula, where brick has been used both internally and externally to help regulate indoor temperatures.
Its density also contributes to acoustic insulation, supporting quieter living environments in both coastal and urban settings.
According to Brickworks, the featured homes reflect growing interest in materials that combine architectural versatility with long-term resilience and passive design benefits suited to Australia’s varied climate conditions.
Rising rates, construction inflation and shrinking investor confidence are pushing Australia deeper into a dangerous housing spiral that monetary policy alone cannot fix.
Automobili Lamborghini and Babolat have expanded their collaboration with five new colourways for the ultra-exclusive BL.001 racket, limited to just 50 pieces worldwide.
Office rents in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane are climbing at their fastest pace since the pandemic as tenants compete for premium CBD space amid tightening supply.
2 min
Australia’s major CBD office markets are recording some of their strongest rental growth since the pandemic, with businesses increasingly prioritising premium office space despite elevated geopolitical and economic uncertainty.
Knight Frank’s Australian Office Indicators Q1 2026 report found net effective rents in Sydney and Melbourne CBDs rose at their fastest annual pace since COVID-19, increasing 10.2 per cent and 6.8 per cent respectively over the 12 months to March.
Brisbane posted the strongest growth nationally, with net effective rents climbing 11.7 per cent over the same period.
The report points to a widening divide between prime CBD office towers and secondary office stock, as occupiers increasingly focus on quality, location and workplace amenity when making leasing decisions.
Knight Frank Senior Economist, Research & Consulting Alistair Read said demand remained heavily concentrated in premium assets within core CBD precincts, helping drive stronger rental growth in top-tier buildings.
“Occupier demand continues to be heavily concentrated in the most desirable CBD precincts and the highest-quality buildings, accelerating a sharp divergence between core and non-core markets,” Mr Read said.
According to the report, Sydney’s Core precinct and Melbourne’s Eastern Core significantly outperformed broader CBD markets over the past year.
“In Sydney’s Core precinct and Melbourne’s Eastern Core, net effective rents surged 14.3% and 16.1% over the past year, significantly outperforming the rest-of-CBD precincts,” Mr Read said.
The rental gap between prime and non-prime office locations has also continued to widen sharply.
“As a result, core CBD rents are now 54% higher than non-core locations in Sydney and 93% higher in Melbourne, highlighting the growing premium placed on amenity, accessibility and workplace quality,” he said.
Knight Frank said the strong rental growth across the major CBDs was being underpinned by a limited supply pipeline, with few new office developments expected to be delivered in the near term.
Mr Read said subdued construction activity was likely to support ongoing rental growth and tighter vacancy rates over the medium term, particularly for premium office towers.
“The combination of sustained demand and declining levels of new development will aid ongoing prime rental growth and lower vacancy rates over the medium term, particularly for best-in-class assets,” he said.
The report noted that current economic conditions were making new office developments increasingly difficult to justify financially.
“Economic rents remain well above expected market rents, making the construction of new office towers largely unviable, and concentrating tenant demand into existing buildings,” Mr Read said.
While suburban office markets generally remained subdued compared with CBDs, Melbourne’s Southbank precinct was identified as a relative outperformer, recording annual net effective rental growth of 2.7 per cent.
The report comes as broader Asia-Pacific office markets continue to stabilise following several years of disruption linked to hybrid work trends, inflation and rising interest rates.
Knight Frank’s separate Asia-Pacific Q1 2026 Office Highlights report found Sydney and Brisbane were among the strongest-performing office rental markets in the region, behind only Bengaluru and Tokyo for annual prime net face rental growth.
The Asia-Pacific report also found 18 of the 24 cities monitored across the region recorded stable or increasing rents in the first quarter of 2026, even as geopolitical uncertainty intensified following escalating conflict in the Middle East.
A cluster of century-old warehouses beneath the Harbour Bridge has been transformed into a modern workplace hub, now home to more than 100 businesses.
Automobili Lamborghini and Babolat have expanded their collaboration with five new colourways for the ultra-exclusive BL.001 racket, limited to just 50 pieces worldwide.
