The creative vision for The Buzz at Yarrabilba brought to life

Let’s deep dive into the creative planning and execution of the architecture and interior design of the newly opened “The Buzz at Yarrabilba.”

Cross-disciplinary architecture practice Deicke Richards has used design to achieve social purpose, delivering a community hub that corelates with the natural setting, celebrates the cultural heritage of the land and creates spaces that encourage engagement and collaboration.

“When thinking about the design process for The Buzz, it was important to understand that the community centre had a real youth focus and to incorporate elements of the broader landscape, while paying respect to the traditional owners of the land,” said Cameron Davies, Deicke Richards Director.

“In the natural surroundings of Yarrabilba, you have these amazing ranges – Mt Tamborine, the Plunkett Conservation Park and the Birnam Range – all on your doorstep. A lot of people move to Yarrabilba to be close to the natural beauty, so it was very important this was demonstrated through the design of The Buzz.

“The Buzz has quite a varied selection of spaces and at the core is a youth area. There’s also large multifunction gathering spaces, bookable meeting spaces, office and interview rooms. It’s fantastic to see that TAFE QLD have taken up an area within the facility which draws in that learning and earning component. There’s also real opportunities for the schools to be able to leverage the spaces within the community centre.”

The Buzz has been delivered by Logan City Council in partnership with the Queensland Government, Lendlease and Brisbane Catholic Education.

During the initial design process, Deicke Richards collaborated with the range of stakeholders to achieve a collective goal that ensures the facility catered for the community now and into the future.

“In 2011, Lendlease engaged Jabree (registered cultural heritage body) to do a cultural heritage assessment of the site. Jabree did a fantastic job of identifying what the traditional landscape of Yarrabilba would have been like. We were really appreciative of this as it gave our design team a much deeper insight into the area and we were able to use this knowledge in the design of the community centre,” said Cameron.

Deicke Richards Senior Interior Designer Magda Myszkowski said The Buzz was designed with natural materials to ensure the building felt like it belonged to the land.

“Throughout the building we used authentic quality finishes like block, stone and timber. People generally feel valued when the quality of the space tells them so,” Magda said.

“The earthly palette provides a sense of calm and connection to the landscape. The exterior colours are deliberately quite varied. It was important to break up the building into a series of smaller ones, which we think makes them more welcoming and of a human scale. Each space has its own identity that encourages interaction and a sense of belonging for the user.”

The entrance of The Buzz features a shared kitchen space which has been created as a welcoming gesture for the community to come together over a cup of tea or meal.

“The island bench features a striking terrazzo top that was crafted by our friends at 5 Mile Radius. There’s a lovely sustainability story which further enriches this place. When concrete is poured at a construction site there’s often some leftover that is usually discarded to landfill,” said Magda.

“5 Mile Radius collect this concrete when it’s wet and re-use it to create bespoke furniture. We invited students from the local school to engage with 5 Mile Radius to understand this process and together they created this unique one-of-a-kind piece.

“The rock that is embedded in the foyer of the community centre is a genuine part of the Yarrabilba context. It is placed here in acknowledgement of the First Nations kindship and long-standing connection to country.”

As designers and architects, Deicke Richards is of the opinion that a building isn’t completed until it is occupied. Through use and activity, the spaces change and are enriched. The designers have deliberately left room for the building to evolve.

Construction on The Buzz started in October 2021 with three separate buildings, known as Pods, making up the 6000 square metre precinct.

TAFE Queensland has leased Pod 3 with Council announcing in December 2022 the Y (part of the YMCA organisation) as the successful tenderer to operate Pods 1 and 2.

The facility, located between Yarrabilba State Secondary College and San Damiano College on Yarrabilba Dr, also features a dedicated youth space.

Programs and services from all tenants at The Buzz will be available soon.

To use the space, click here to submit an Expression of Use:

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