Telephone +61 7 3844 1362
studio@shanethompson.com.au
47 Wahcumba St, Dutton Park
PO Box 1170 Fortitude Valley
Queensland 4006 Australia
The Barracks are located on a 400-hectare site south of Townsville in tropical North Queensland at the foothills of Mt Stuart. It was established in 1965–66 and is home to the Australian Army’s 3rd Brigade, the Defence Force’s ready deployment unit.
Stage two of the redevelopment of Lavarack Barracks included the provision of new accommodation for all live-in personnel on the base. 1004 new accommodation units were built for all ranks. The design for the housing interprets principals of good tropical design with attention paid to cross ventilation, sun-shading, and lightweight, thermally responsive construction.
Extensive site planning resulted in the development of three distinct precincts of accommodation, with the dining and recreation, or Mess buildings, acting as the focus for each. Maximum energy efficiency and low life-cycle cost concerns played an important part in developing all aspects of the project.
The buildings are designed to suit off-site prefabrication, minimum site disturbance, and require low maintenance.