Sunshine Coast Open House is a free community event which offers rare behind-the-scenes access to the Sunshine Coast’s best buildings ranging from private homes, corporate buildings, heritage treasures and sustainable spaces. Enjoy meeting the people who design, build and preserve these buildings and celebrate the region’s unique history, architecture and built form. The sixth annual Sunshine Coast Open House weekend will be held on Saturday 21 and Sunday 22 October 2023. It will showcase historic, contemporary and sustainable buildings from Caloundra to the Hinterland and Cooran.
Sunshine Coast Open House was founded in 2017 by the Sunshine Coast Council, Noosa Council and the Australian Institute of Architects (Sunshine Coast Committee). Since it was founded, Sunshine Coast Open House has received generous funding and in-kind support from the Sunshine Coast Council’s Arts and Heritage Levy and other government, corporate and community organisations. In its inaugural year, Sunshine Coast Open House celebrated the 50th anniversary of the official naming of the Sunshine Coast. Since then, the Open House event has opened many architecturally diverse buildings each year for the public to tour. Sunshine Coast Open House also hosts a number of associated events, walking tours, and talks each year, including its annual Open Forum which focuses on topical, thought-provoking issues.
Sunshine Coast Open House is part of the Open House Worldwide network, founded by Open House London more than 25 years ago and now in 40+ cities around the world.
Sunshine Coast Open House Committee
- Lindsay Clare, Architect, Director at Clare Design (Chair)
- Noel Robinson, Architect, Director at NRA collective (Patron)
- Paul William-Smith, Community Representative (Sponsorship)
- Ron Scott, Community Representative
- Laurie Jones, Heritage Architect
- Dr Amy Clarke, Senior Lecturer in History, UniSC
- Tony Holzberger, Principal Architect, Sunshine Coast Council (Building Manager)
- Evelyn Murphy, Urban Designer, Sunshine Coast Council (Secretary)
- Liza Neil, Principal Architect, Chair of AIA Sunshine Coast
- Magdy Youssef, MPIA Fellow, Urban Design and Town Planning
- Stephanie Keays, Architect, Noosa Council
- Sarah Chalkley, Manager Urban Design and Architecture, Sunshine Coast Council
OPEN HOUSE QUEENSLAND
Since its inception in 2010 the Office of the Queensland Government Architect has actively promoted the Open House concept across the state.
Queensland’s regional centres and their high quality of built environments allow the initiative to support strong tourism, cultural and professional development throughout the state. A regional program involving the cities of Cairns, Townsville, Rockhampton, Toowoomba and Maryborough was identified and progressed, with the first regional event – Maryborough Open House – staged on 27 October 2012.
In addition to Sunshine Coast Open House, visitors can also enjoy the following Open House events across Queensland:
BRISBANE OPEN HOUSE
GOLD COAST OPEN HOUSE
OPEN HOUSE WORLDWIDE
The Open House concept was founded in London in 1992 by Victoria Thornton OBE, aiming to create a wider community able to engage with architecture on their own terms and argue for a better quality of built environment.
Open House facilitates opportunities for a city’s inhabitants to directly experience how well-designed cities can improve their lives, by opening examples of architectural excellence to the public. These experiences stimulate dialogue about architecture and learning, which empowers people to advocate for a well-designed built environment.
The concept resonated with cities internationally and the organic growth of independent Open House cities led to the creation of the Open House Worldwide Family of affiliated cities in 2010, which has grown to about 40 cities across five continents.