Plant Futures Facility
The University of Queensland
The University of Queensland's Plant Futures Facility supports research into one of the great challenges we face as a global community – sustainable, adaptable, and secure food, fibre, and fuel production. The highly technical building supports grow research in all its forms, while simultaneously engaging with the context and culture of the precinct it sits within, and the working methods of the research that occurs within it.
Reimagined as a “walled garden,” the building is wrapped in a pixelated brick façade that maps the geological soil profile of Queensland—the same soils that support both the plants which form the core of the building’s research and the clay from which 90% of the building’s bricks are made.
Unfolded elevation translated from cross-section of the Great Artesian Basin.
The building’s planning is built up from the size of a single standard grow pot (8 pots = 1 tray, 5 trays = 1 trolley, 6 trolleys = 1 small grow room, and so on).  In this way, the facility is modular, research-focused, ruthlessly efficient, and adaptable over time
Module Planning
 
Info
Client:
The University of Queensland
Location:
Land of Turrbal and Jagera peoples
St Lucia
Size:
5266 m²
Status:
completed
Typology:
Education, Lab
Quotes
The facility is an important national asset and reinforces the position of Australia, Queensland and UQ as a leader in plant science research.
Deborah Terry, UQ Vice-Chancellor
The Plant Futures Facility has quickly become a landmark building, providing a new focal point for renewal of a previously under-utilised part of the campus, continuing a tradition of expressive brickwork established by James Birrell. The Facility’s striking presence is a source of curiosity to campus users and a highly technical container.
Timothy Sweeney, Campus Planner
The building fundamentally enhances how we conduct precision plant research in Australia by bringing people, technology, and growing environments together in a highly integrated way.
Sarah Armstrong Operations Manager Plant Growth
This building takes a really complex technical brief into a harsh environment in this section of the university, and creates a really special moment for the campus and the students.
Think Brick Awards Jury 2025
Cited
Awards:

2026 AIA National Architecture Awards: National Award for Education Architecture - Plant Futures Facility

2026 AIA Queensland State Architecture Awards: Award for Educational Architecture - Plant Futures Facility

2026 AIA Queensland State Architecture Awards: Award for Interior Architecture - Plant Futures Facility

2026 AIA Queensland Architecture Awards: Regional Award (Greater Brisbane Region): John Dalton Award for Building of the Year - Plant Futures Facility 

2026 AIA Queensland Architecture Awards: Regional Commendation (Greater Brisbane Region): Education Architecture - Plant Futures Facility

2026 AIA Queensland Architecture Awards: Regional Commendation (Greater Brisbane Region) – Interior Architecture: Plant Futures Facility

2025 Think Brick Horbury Hunt Commercial Award Winner: Plant Futures Facility 

2025 Dezeen Awards: Shortlisted in the Education Category - Plant Futures Facility 

The controlled environments, which form the core of this project, are capable of replicating any growing condition in a highly accurate, controlled, measurable and repeatable manner.
The building’s service corridors treat inhabitants to the same distortions and controls, as the plants they study. Lighting effects and mirrored paneling warp the perception of the building’s finishes, colours, and spatial conditions. The effect alleviates the ‘white box’ experience of the research laboratory typology.
Located within a precinct defined by a legacy of brick architecture, the building negotiates its urban context between large research institutions, service and research infrastructure, and smaller residential forms.
Photography by Christopher Frederik Jones