Buchan celebrates 40 years in Brisbane

The Brisbane studio of global architecture and design practice Buchan is launching into 2025 by celebrating its forty-year anniversary and moving to a new studio.

Longstanding Buchan Director and Principal Phil Schoutrop, who was born in Brisbane, says the milestone comes at an exciting time for the practice and for Queensland.  

Image: Expo 88 shade Sails Queensland State Archive / supplied

"Brisbane and South East Queensland are undergoing a period of rapid growth. With the 2032 Olympics on the horizon, there's a lot of attention on the opportunities here," says Schoutrop.

"Buchan's forty years in Brisbane give us a deep understanding of the city's unique culture, climate and governance."

An early commission for Buchan's Brisbane studio was for the World Expo in 1988, hosted by the City of Brisbane. Buchan wrote the master brief for the site.

Render: Bulimba Barracks Shed facade by Buchan, render by Flood

"World Expo 88 was a pivotal event in Brisbane’s evolution as a modern city, transforming South Bank and putting Brisbane on the world map," says Schoutrop, who leads precinct design at Buchan.

"It was an early example of precinct design, which we evolved in the 80s with our retail work on projects like the Brisbane Myer Centre, the Robina Town Centre on the Gold Coast, and more recently, the award-winning Nicholas Street Precinct in Ipswich."  

Schoutrop says precinct design continues to shape modern Brisbane. An example is Buchan's proposed Bulimba Barracks development, a riverfront multi-residential precinct that incorporates retail, community and recreational elements.

Render: Australia Pavilion Expo 2025 by Buchan, render by Flood

"Bulimba Barracks brings our forty years of cross-sector expertise together in one precinct attuned to Brisbane's climate and way of life. High amenity, climate-responsive neighbourhoods are the new model for contemporary living as we move towards a higher-density city,” he says

"We want Brisbane to be known as a place where the quality of the urban environment underpins the quality of our lifestyle.”

Schoutrop says the biggest industry shift since the Brisbane studio opened is the leap in technology, another evolution that can be linked back to Expo 88.

Buchan collaborated on the design of Expo 88's landmark shade sails, which became symbolic of the event. Fast forward to today and Buchan's Australia Pavilion for Expo 2025, secured via an international design competition, was created by a team of designers located across cities and countries using digital parametric design. The Australian Pavilion will open in April.  

"New technologies like AI are transforming many aspects of our business but are only ever a tool. It's people who create great design and that's our focus," Schoutrop says.

"We look forward to growing our Brisbane team in the new office and contributing to the city's evolution."

Image: Bulimba Barracks Pavilion by Buchan render by Flood / supplied